Palace junks
NYC proposal
By Nat Mariano, Rey
E. Requejo and Macon
Ramos-Araneta
THE Palace and the Justice department on Wednesday shot down a
proposal from the National Youth
Commission to strip students who
are members of leftist organizations
of their government-backed scholarships.
Next page

Makati clears way
for Catriona parade
By Joel E. Zurbano
THE Makati City government will
implement a traffic rerouting
scheme in the city today (Feb. 21)
to give way to the homecoming
parade for Miss Universe 2018
Next page
Catriona Gray

RESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte on Wednesday signed
into law a bill that will “guarantee equitable access
to quality and affordable health care services for all
Filipinos.”

Under the new law, Filipinos will be
automatically enrolled in the National
Health Insurance Program. Membership
in the NHIP will be classiﬁed as “direct
contributor,” or those who can pay health
premiums, and “indirect contributor,” or
those sponsored by the government such
as indigents, senior citizens and people
with disability.
The law also aims to expand the coverage of PhilHealth beneﬁts, which included free consultation tests and other
diagnostic services.
Filipinos can also avail themselves of

primary health care services even if they
don’t have PhilHealth identiﬁcation cards.
Akbayan Senator Risa Hontiveros said
the Philippines’ goal of having “healthier
Pinoys and Pinays” was now closer to reality as she hailed the signing into law of
the Universal Health Care Act.
Hontiveros, vice chairman of the Senate
Committee on Health and Demography
and co-sponsor of the law in the Senate,
said the measure was a “key milestone in
the efforts to make the country’s health
services equally accessible, effective and
Next page
affordable for all Filipinos.”

Full-blown El Niño drought
threatens, weathermen warn
By Maricel V. Cruz
THE weather bureau warned the public
Wednesday to brace for a full-blown El
Niño this year, signaling a prolonged period of reduced rainfall, rising temperatures, dry spells and drought.
In a press brieﬁng, the administrator
of the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical, and Astronomical Services
Administration Vicente Malano said the
agency had already monitored signs of
the weather phenomenon in the Paciﬁc as
early as July last year, but expects the El
Niño to become full-blown by the end of
February or in March.

Climate monitoring chief Analiza Solis said that with El Niño, temperature
during the summer could reach 40.7 degrees, particularly in Tuguegarao, Cagayan; while Metro Manila could experience
temperatures as high as 38.2 degrees.
Earlier this year, Zamboanga del Sur,
Zamboanga Sibugay, Bukidnon, Basilan, Maguindanao and Sulu were already
experiencing a dry spell, while Ilocos
Norte, Lanao del Norte and Lanao del
Sur are coping with drought, Solis said.
By the end of March, Abra, Bataan,
Palawan, Ilocos Sur and Zambales may
also experience drought, she said.
Next page

CHED bars poll bets from guesting in school grads
CANDIDATES running in the May 2019
elections are not allowed as guest speakers in graduation ceremonies of public
and private universities and colleges, an
ofﬁcial of the Commission on Higher
Education said Wednesday.
“We’re issuing a memorandum by next

Trump wants
‘Space Force’
WASHINGTON—President Donald Trump signed an order Tuesday outlining his vision for a new
“Space Force” that could one
day become a separate military
branch on an equal footing to the
Army and Navy.
Next page

week after the commission en banc, enjoining all the higher education institutions, not to invite candidates to speak
in graduation exercises and for state universities and colleges to prohibit them,”
CHED chairman J. Prospero de Vera III
told reporters in an interview on the side-

lines of the launching of Shared Genomics Core Laboratory in Quezon City.
De Vera also encouraged all universities and colleges to do “aggressive”
citizen and voter education by hosting
debates—for both senatorial and local
Next page

Duterte sets terms of peace talks
revival; NDF man arrives in Manila
By Nat Mariano
and Francisco Tuyay
STALLED peace talks with communist
rebels will resume only if the New People’s Army stops its extortion and attacks
on police and government troops, the Palace said Wednesday, after President Rodrigo Duterte said Tuesday night that National Democratic Front chief negotiator
Fidel Agcaoili is welcome to come home.
“I think attorney Agcaoili has sounded
off. He was coming again to talk. And I

told the military and the police just allow
him [to come home],” Duterte said in a
speech Tuesday. “After all, we are on a
waiting period about the appropriate time
to talk about peace. I am not that cruel.”
Duterte also had words for Communist
Party of the Philippines founding chairman Jose Ma. Sison.
“I am not saying that I am now in
agreement with Sison. I don’t like his
style but I do not hate him. We are friends
and we can be friends. Some other time
Next page

Bishop: Mindanao needs martial law
A MINDANAO bishop on Wednesday
expressed support for the Supreme Court’s
decision upholding the constitutionality of
President Rodrigo Duterte’s order to extend martial law in Mindanao for the third
time, or until the end of this year.
“Mindanao needs martial law,” Ozamis Archbishop Martin Jumoad said.
“This is good for us here. Others may
not understand us but if you live in Mindanao, then you will know why.”

Jumoad made his statement even as
senatorial candidate Samira Gutoc said
Wednesday the Supreme Court decision
supporting the extension of martial law in
Mindanao was a sad day for Mindanao,
for the justice system and the ﬁght for
peace.
Voting 9-4, the Supreme Court declared as valid the extension of martial
law in Mindanao until Dec. 31, 2019.
Next page

ROCKING ROOKIE. The Ateneo de Manila University-educated Pampangaborn Kelsey Alaine Merritt, a 22-year-old Filipino-American model best known for being
the first Filipino woman to ever walk in Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show in 2018, has been
chosen and announced by the anticipated Sports Illustrated Swimsuit edition 2019 as
its newest rookie.

A2

News

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 2019

mst.daydesk@gmail.com

Trump...
From A1

Trump wants to create a space force to
protect satellites, tackle vulnerabilities in
space and assert US dominance in orbit.
“We have to be prepared,” Trump told reporters after signing the directive.
“My administration has made the creation
of a space force a national security issue.”
Space Force would be the sixth branch
of the military alongside the Navy, Marine
Corps, Army, Air Force and Coast Guard.
The order calls for Congress to draft legislation that would establish Space Force as a
branch that falls under the Air Force, similar
to how the Navy oversees the Marine Corps.
Defense Department spokesman Charlie
Summers said the Pentagon would submit
its legislative proposal within the coming
weeks.
With the new directive, “Trump is posturing
the United States to compete, deter, and win in
a complex multi-domain environment characterized by great power competition,” Summers
said in a statement.
The Air Force said a space force would
work “to ensure unfettered access to, and
freedom to operate in space, and to provide vital capabilities to joint and coalition
forces.”
But the creation of Space Force is by no
means a done deal, as it must be vetted and
approved by Congress.
Lawmakers and defense ofﬁcials have reacted with skepticism, wary of the cost and
added bureaucracy.
Space plays a vital role in just about
every aspect of modern warfare, with many
military technologies reliant on a network of
orbiting sensors and satellites, and the Pentagon has warned that countries such as Russia
and China are working to build anti-satellite
capabilities. AFP

Solaire...
From A1

Situated in Manila’s booming Entertainment City, Solaire stands as a maverick that has
broken boundaries in its quest for greatness.
Its introduction signaled the dawn of a new
age that transformed the Philippine entertainment landscape and elevated Filipino hospitality to a whole new playing ﬁeld.
Known to be culturally rich and ethnically
diverse, the Philippines is a melting pot of centuries-old traditions passed on from its native
ancestors and even from its colonial past.
It has seen the rise and fall of powers that
have altered the face of its capital but, on the
other hand, also reformed the ways of everyday Manila.
Despite arguments that question the archipelago’s true identity, the diversity that runs
through the nation’s bloodlines has been embraced as what makes the Filipino.
This very trait chisels and sharpens the
edges of its future to manifest the motherland’s much desired dreams and fuel its
people’s yearned ambitions.
Solaire Resort & Casino deﬁnes the essence of this elusive quality.
The integrated resort has managed to
unify its complex yesterdays with today’s
modern architecture.
Its pristine and clean aesthetic with its distinguished orange logo is perfectly drawn on
the canvas that is Manila Bay.
It commands attention, but always subtle
and never kitsch.
The property’s splendor narrates its roots
in an unprecedented manner, cementing its
brand of excellence as the standard among
its contemporaries.
With a myriad of elements, it has created
a distinct kind of sophistication that has resulted in a masterpiece that transcends the
ordinary.
Much so that the world’s most distinguished travel authority has taken notice and
placed the homegrown property on the global map, awarding it as one of the most luxurious and verifying its highly coveted status.
The entirety of the Forbes Travel Guidedistinguished 17-story all-suite Sky Tower
lets its impeccable style, elegant interiors
and timeless persona speak only for itself.

CHED...
From A1
candidates—with the condition that all electoral bets are invited.
He said state and local universities and
colleges need not request approval from
CHED to host such events.
“They will need to get the approval of
their board of regents because they have a
public function and they are covered by
Civil Service Commission [CSC] rules on
political neutrality,” he said.
Public universities and colleges that violate the order would be served appropriate
administrative sanctions under CSC rules
and regulations, De Vera added.
“CSC encourages state and local universities and colleges to take part in the elections,
express their views about candidates, but it
doesn’t allow them to attend rallies, campaigns and hand out leaﬂets and put on shirts
of political candidates,” he said.
He added that private universities and colleges are not covered by CSC administrative
sanctions but are “urged not to invite political candidates in graduation ceremonies.”
The campaign period for senatorial and
party-list candidates began on Feb. 12. The
campaign period for local candidates begins
on March 29.
Meanwhile, the Department of Education
said it is awaiting the signature of President
Rodrigo Duterte for a P50 million addition
to its 2019 budget for expenses that will be
incurred for the May elections.
In a press conference in Manila, the
DepEd said the bicameral conference committee has approved a P50-million increase
in its budget for 2019, earmarked for the
elections. PNA

Rody shuns EDSA rites
By Nat Mariano

P

RESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte will not attend the 33rd
anniversary of the EDSA People Power Revolution on Feb.
25, the Palace said Wednesday.

But Presidential Spokesman Salvador
Panelo said Duterte will issue a statement
to commemorate the event.
“He hasn’t said anything. He wasn’t
there last time. He wasn’t even there for
two years,” Panelo said.
“So most likely he will not attend. The

President has a lot to do. Just yesterday he
was so eager to finish [what he was doing] for 30 minutes because he still had
errands. He’s really hardworking.”
But even if Duterte was not attending
the anniversary of the bloodless revolution, Panelo said, the event played an im-

portant part in boosting democracy in the
Philippines.
“I remember [the President] issues a
statement, right? It’s like he always issues a statement in support. So, it’s important,” Panelo said.
Last year top government officials
gathered at the People Power Monument in Quezon City to commemorate
the revolution that ended the Marcos dictatorship, and those included
former president Fidel Ramos and
Supreme Court Chief Justice Maria
Lourdes Sereno.

Muslim rebels ‘cleared’ to join Bangsamoro
the government.
The transition body is expected to take over
governance of the old Autonomous Region in
Muslim Mindanao the following week.
Murad acknowledged the pressure of governing a region long hobbled by poverty and
violence.
“We are in another level of struggle that is
to transform from the revolutionary organization to governance,” he said, recalling
that some MILF leaders had gone to Malaysia and Turkey for some training.
According to Murad, the BTA would
still be using the old P32-billion budget for
ARMM to deliver on the promise of improved education, social services, and infrastructure this year.
Congress allocated an additional P30 billion for the new government’s operations, but
Murad said the much bigger “block grant”
would have to wait until next year.
The new region also stands to receive P50
billion in “special development fund” after
2019 to help rebuild areas devastated over
years of armed conflict.

MUSLIM rebels who previously fought for
secession from the Philippines have been
cleared to help run a new self-governing
region in the southern Philippines, Murad
Ebrahim, chairman of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, said Wednesday.
Murad said Abdullah Macapaar, alias
Commander Bravo, would also be appointed
as one of 80 members of the Bangsamoro
Transition Authority.
Murad will be joined by fellow MILF
central committee members and front commanders, whose eligibility earlier came under scrutiny because of criminal cases that
might still be pending.
But he told ANC’s Early Edition beamed
nationwide: “It is all cleared.”
Murad was expected to take the role of
chief minister of the three-year transition
government of the new Bangsamoro autonomous region.
Macapaar led deadly attacks in Lanao
del Norte and North Cotabato in 2008 after
the MILF and the government failed to sign
a peace deal.

The Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain, under then President Gloria
Macapagal Arroyo, raised fears that it would
lead to the creation of a sub-state for Muslims
in Mindanao.
Murad said Macapaar, leader of the MILF’s
102nd Base Command, “will be appointed,”
noting that the National Bureau of Investigation
had cleared him of any pending cases.
Macapaar is expected to initially serve as a
member of parliament.
Depending on the capability and qualifications, members would be tapped for ministerial positions, Murad said.
The MILF is awaiting the amnesty proclamation of President Rodrigo Duterte within
the year to facilitate the transition of combatants to civilian life under the “normalization
phase” of the peace process.
Members of the BTA were supposed to
take their oath in Malacañang on Wednesday
but the ceremony was reset to Feb. 22, said
Murad.
He added 41 of them were nominated by
the MILF while the rest were handpicked by

Full-blown...

Health care...

Solis also said that El Niño, triggered
by periodic warming in the eastern Paciﬁc
Ocean, could last for ﬁve months to two
years, during which the affected areas will
experience reduced rainfall.
El Niño also causes tropical cyclones to become erratic, pushing their track northwards
and making them stronger, PAGASA said.
PAGASA weather division chief said the
reduced rainfall as a result of El Niño could
also cause water levels in dams to drop, reducing the amount of hydroelectric power
that can be generated.
Malano noted that the provincial government of Bohol has already requested a cloud
seeding operation due to the lack of water in
its dam that supplies irrigation in rice ﬁelds.
Water supply in other provinces is also below normal, the PAGASA chief said.

Senator Nancy Binay said the Universal Health Coverage law was a massive win for every
Filipino family.
Senator JV Ejercito, the principal author of the Senate version of the measure, has previously said that its passage will expand PhilHealth’s coverage to include free medical checkups,
laboratory tests and other diagnostic services.
The new law also gives every Filipino “immediate eligibility” for access to the full coverage of health care, which includes either population-based or individual-based health services,
granting them access to preventive, promotive, curative, rehabilitative and palliative treatment.
According to the Health department, about P257 billion will be required to ensure the full
implementation of the UHC.
Funds for the UHC program will then be sourced from the incremental sin tax collections, the charity fund from the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Ofﬁce, income from the
Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp., the premium contribution of members, the annual budget of the Health department and the government subsidy to PhilHealth.
Ejercito, with the endorsement of the President, is running for senator again in 2019. In the
House of Representatives, former Kabayan Rep. Harry Roque was the principal sponsor of
the bill.
Roque initially intended to run for senator but dropped out of the race before the campaign
period began due to health complications.

From A1

Palace...
From A1

In a statement on Wednesday, the commission’s chairman, Ronald Cardema, called on
President Rodrigo Duterte to issue an executive order to withdraw the state scholarships
granted to “anti-government scholars.”
Cardema said these scholars were “ﬁghting the majority of the Filipino people” by
going against the government.
“[They are] also not fulﬁlling their roles
as the expected breadwinners who will uplift
their families and as our hope in strengthening our country,” he added.
Cardema, who also chairs the so-called
Duterte Youth Movement, said several scholars were recently caught as members of the
New People’s Army, the armed wing of the
Communist Party of the Philippines.
He also asked ofﬁcials of the Sangguniang
Kabataan, Reserve Ofﬁcers’ Training Corps,
Citizen Army Training, and other youth leaders to “report to the National Youth Commission all government scholars who are known
in your area as anti-government youth leaders allied with the leftist CPP-NPA-NDF.”
At a press brieﬁng at the Palace, however,
Presidential Spokesman Salvador Panelo described as reckless the proposal to withdraw
scholarships based only on suspicion.
“We are a government of laws, not of speculations. If we are just speculating, that will not
be possible. We need evidence [to support the
claim] that they are really part of the groups that
oppose the government,” Panelo said.
Under the law, he added, students have the
right to join protest rallies.

From A1

“If they are participating in rallies, that’s
their right. That’s their right to freedom of
expression and freedom of assembly... If you
have grievances to the government, that’s a
constitutional right,” he said.
“But if you use rallies to foment violence,
to incite sedition, that’s a different story,” he
added.
“Under the Revised Penal Code, we have
sedition, rebellion, and conspiracies to commit sedition and rebellion. If you ﬁt in those,
the government cannot support you. Otherwise, the government will be killing itself,”
Panelo said.
He said he doubted if Duterte would heed
Cardema’s call.
“If you would only remove [the scholarships] on the basis of suspicion, I don’t think
the President will sign that,” he said.
Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra on
Wednesday also rejected Cardema’s proposal, saying this would be a violation of the
students’ constitutional rights.
“With all due respect, such a proposal, if
adopted would effectively restrain the youth’s
constitutional right to freedom of speech and
expression,” the Justice secretary said.
Guevarra said state universities and colleges should be proud of their students who
speak out on national issues.
“Our state universities and colleges, instead of taking it against the militant students
by dropping them from the roll, should be
proud that they are producing young people
who are socially aware and concerned not
only about themselves but also about the nation,” Guevarra said.
Senator Francis Escudero said if anyone
was to lose a position, it should be Cardema,

not the students.
Escudero, chairman of the Senate committee on education, arts and culture, said Cardema was bringing shame to the administration
for his “ignorance” and doing a disservice to
the President and the government.
“That is clearly not part of their [NYC]
mandate and in violation of the Constitution
and the Bill of Rghts that guarantees freedom
of speech, of expression and of the press, the
right of the people to peaceably assemble and
petition the government for redress of grievances, and due process and equal protection
of the laws.”
“The government is the government of
those who agree with it and disagree with
it... and the President is the President of those
who voted for him and did not vote for him,”
Escudero added.
“Both the President and the government
should serve every Filipino without distinction and regardless of political beliefs. Dissent, in a democracy should never be frowned
upon, much less penalized in any way,” said
Escudero, who was a former student leader
at the University of the Philippines-Diliman.
Senator Francis Pangilinan, another former student leader at UP Diliman, said it is
not illegal to join leftist organizations nor it
is illegal to protest or join rallies.
Senator Panﬁlo Lacson added that showing dissent and joining anti-government rallies was an exercise of a basic right available
to any citizen of the country.
Former solicitor general Florin Hilbay argued that Cardema’s proposal was contrary
to the mandate of the youth commission. He
said scholarships should be based on merit,
not politics.

RITM attends
to Mers-CoV
patient
A PATIENT with suspected Middle East
Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus was
brought to the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine in Muntinlupa on Wednesday, an oficial said.
The patient, who works abroad, was
first taken to the Laguna Doctors Hospital and immediately transferred to RITM,
said DOH-Calabarzon director Edgardo
Janairo.
“The situation is under control in such a
way that the lone patient is already on the
way to RITM for isolation,” Janairo told
dzMM radio.
Rumors earlier claimed that a patient
had died of severe acute respiratory syndrome or SARS that Janairo denied.
Both SARS and MERS-CoV are contagious respiratory diseases, with the
former originating in Hong Kong and
China, and the latter in the Middle East,
Janairo said.
“We are monitoring the diseases. We
don’t have SARS or MERS-CoV cases in
the Philippines. Those would be difficult
to control if they spread.”
The Laguna Doctors Hospital’s
emergency room, where the suspected
MERS-CoV patient was first taken, was
temporarily closed for decontamination,
Janairo said.
The emergency room is away from the
main entrance, so those visiting the hospital should not be wary, he said.
Those who interacted with the patient
were required to undergo isolation in their
houses. They will be brought to the RITM
if they experience symptoms in 21 to 28
days, Janairo said.
MERS-CoV symptoms include fever
with cough, sore throat, nasal congestion or breathing difficulty accompanied
by fatigue, headache, chills, vomiting or
diarrhea.
Janairo advised the public to wear
face masks to avoid catching respiratory
diseases.

Makati...
From A1

“Please be advised that there will be a
Grand Motorcade and Ticker Tape Parade
for the recently crowned Miss Universe
2018 on Thursday along Sen. Gil Puyat Avenue (from Taft Avenue) and Ayala Avenue
(from Sen. Gil Puyat Avenue to EDSA),”
said Makati City Information and Community Relations Department chief Romulo
Salgado Jr.
Salgado said the parade will start at
around 4 p.m., moving towards the Freedom Park located near Ayala Avenue and
Sen. Gil Puyat Avenue intersection, before
proceeding to the Central Business District
through Ayala Avenue.
The parade will end at Glorietta Shopping Center.
According to the Makati Public
Safety Department, all affected eastbound vehicles at Sen. Gil Puyat Avenue heading towards Ayala Avenue
can make a right turn to Washington
Street, left turn to Dela Rosa Street,
pass through Pasong Tamo Avenue,
right turn to Amorsolo Street, left turn
to V.A. Rufino Street, then right turn
to Dela Rosa Street towards Makati Avenue or Mandaluyong City.
“Intersections will be on a stop and go
mode. Trafﬁc enforcers will be deployed
to assist the motorists and the public,” said
Salgado.
The Metro Manila Development Authority earlier announced that it will enforce stop-and-go scheme where vehicles
carrying the Filipino beauty queen will
traverse.
To guide motorists, more than 200 trafﬁc
enforcers will be deployed along the route
of the parade to assist.
Illegally parked vehicles and obstructions along the route will also be cleared
ahead of the parade.
The MMDA said that the parade will
kick off at Soﬁtel Philippine Plaza Manila
at 2 p.m. and pass through streets of cities
of Pasay, Manila and Makati.
The affected roads are J.W. Diokno Boulevard, Atang Dela Rama, Vicente Sotto
Street, Roxas Boulevard, T. M. Kalaw, Taft
Avenue, Buendia and Ayala Avenue.

Bishop:...
From A1

Duterte...
From A1
they say I would kill for money. But since Sison is my professor, I will
kill him for nothing. Except that before he goes to the blue yonder,
kindly ﬁnd time to talk sensible peace,” the President said.
The President said the communist rebellion has been going on for 53
years without succeeding.
“It’s a lost cause. I suggest that we do not make any demands. We go
to the table and talk about it. And if he proposes something which is not
acceptable and I would say, ‘No, I cannot accept that’,” Duterte said.
“And if I propose something and he does not relish it, then maybe
he can go back to Netherlands. If there’s no peace, there is no way that
he can come back.”
Presidential Spokesman Salvador Panelo on Wednesday reiterated
the President’s conditions for a return to the negotiating table.
“We will return to the peace talks, one, if they stop extortion. Two,
if they stop attacking our police forces,” Panelo said in a Palace press
brieﬁng.
In November last year, Agcaoili, NDF consultant Luis Jalandoni and
panel member Coni Ledesma were supposed to return to Manila to
conduct informal talks with the President.
They canceled their trip after Agcaoili claimed that the govern-

ment’s peace panel advised them not to push through with the resumption of peace talks.
But Panelo said the NDF consultants’ apprehension about returning
to the Philippines was “misplaced.”
“The President has been telling them that they are welcome to come
if they want to talk. They will not be arrested. However, they expressed
apprehension that they will be arrested. I already told them that their
apprehension was misplaced, they’re welcome,” he said.
The Palace ofﬁcial said the communist group may even set conditions for the government to consider. Such conditions, however, must
be “reasonable.”
Defense Secretary Delﬁn Lorenzana, meanwhile, said Agcaoili was
already in the country but his whereabouts were unknown.
“He was already here since last week,” Lorenzana said Tuesday
night.
Agcaoili and Ledesma have no pending criminal case in the country
while Jalandoni has a pending murder case.
Duterte terminated the peace talks with the communists in 2017
amid a series of rebel attacks on military and civilian targets. He later
declared the Communist Party of the Philippines and its armed wing,
the New People’s Army, as terrorist organizations.
Lorenzana said the government remains open to the resumption of
peace talks with the communists, provided that the rebels would cease
their attacks, extortion, and burning of equipment.

Gutoc said she was not surprised by the
decision, but she condemned it. She said
martial law has resulted in the disenfranchisement of the poor and powerless in Mindanao.
“A lot of us are fearful to even speak up
in protest of martial law and we know there
have been unresolved human rights violations,” she said.
Jumoad said the Mindanaoans trusted the
members of the military and described them
as professional in performing their tasks.
“We trust our men in the Armed Forces
of the Philippines. We witness how professional they are in performing their work as
peace keepers,” Jumoad said.
“Our role now is to pray for the conversion of terrorists, and may the people of
Mindanao, Muslims, Lumads and Christians
work for peace and harmony. Let us respect
one another regardless of conviction.” PNA
with Macon Ramos-Araneta

Manila

Standard

TODAY

A4

Opinion

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 2019

mst.daydesk@gmail.com

Inanities from the Palace
INANITIES have been coming out
of Malacañang. It is as if President
Duterte and the people around him
have nothing else to do.
There is the silly idea of changing
the name of our country to Maharlika.
It was the late President Ferdinand
Marcos who first suggested it. He was,
as we all know, infatuated with the
word “Maharlika.” This was how he
called his guerilla unit during the Japanese occupation. He even wanted to
name the highway extending to Mindanao Maharlika, but it became Marcos
Highway.

Do they have nothing
else to do?

The fact that Marcos abandoned
the idea of renaming the Philippines
should convince Duterte that it is not a
good idea to begin with.
Can you imagine what would happen if we were suddenly known as
Maharlika? Our Philippine banknotes
would be demonitized and our agencies and buildings would be renamed.
If we changed our name to Maharlika, I wonder if I would have to change

my surname as well. “Jurado” is Spanish, meaning “judge.”
There is also that plan of the Presidential Communications Operations
Office to have a caravan all over Europe to explain why Maria Ressa was
arrested for cyber libel, and to insist
that the Duterte administration did not
violate press freedom.
Does Secretary Martin Andanar
want another junket?
This will cost us taxpayers a lot of
money. This is ridiculous. If the EU
countries continue to believe that press
freedom was violated, then that is their
problem.
This is not the change we are clamoring for!
As far as I am concerned, the greater
tragedy is the deterioration of the moral
fabric of our society. And now it’s nearing election time again, and all we can
see are candidates with the lowest regard for moral standards.
***
Republic Act 9006 or the Fair Elections Act mandates candidates for national office, like the Senate, to spend
no more than P3 per voter. Since there
are 61.8 million registered voters,
the most that candidates can spend is
P185.4 million for their campaign.
But according to the findings of
the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism, and confirmed by the
Commission on Elections, close to
20 senatorial candidates have already
spent a combined P2.4 billion to prop
up their respective campaigns.
Sadly, the Comelec has neither power nor means to determine where these
candidates are getting their funding.

Adelle Chua, Editor

EDITORIAL

Bridal remorse

A

19-YEAR-OLD British teenager who joined the
Islamic State (ISIS) terrorist group when she was 15
has just given birth in Syria and wants to return to her
home country, but will likely be stripped of her citizenship.

Shamima Begum was just 15 when
she left London along with two other
classmates to join ISIS. Earlier this
month, however, a Times journalist
found her in a refugee camp. She was
then nine months pregnant and told
the reporter that she simply wanted to
have her baby at home. Her husband,
a Dutch convert to Islam, is believed
to have surrendered to Syrian troops
two weeks earlier.
Begum said that as a housewife in
Syria, she had had two other babies
who had died of malnutrition and
sickness.
Begum's lawyer said the Home Office had written to her mother informing the family of the order. And, while
the family may appeal the decision,
Home Secretary Sajid Javid said he
would not hesitate to prevent the return of those who joined or supported
terrorist groups such as ISIS.
While Begum said she had no regrets about going to Syria, she said
the caliphate was over. "They're just
getting smaller and smaller and there's
so much oppression and corruption
going on that I don't really think they
deserve victory," she said.
She also admitted that before she
left the UK, she was already aware of
ISIS' beheadings and other forms of
brutality and said she “was okay with
it.”
"When I saw my first severed head
in a bin it didn't faze me at all. It was

from a captured fighter seized on the
battlefield, an enemy of Islam," she
told the Times.
While in Syria, however, she said
she never did anything dangerous, or
participated in any propaganda efforts
to gain more recruits.
The issue has heated up. On national television, the daughter of two victims of the Manchester bombing expressed anger that Begum would even
express a desire to go back to the UK.
Security minister Ben Wallace told
BBC Radio that "actions have consequences” and that UK nationals
choosing to come back after traveling
to ISIS territory should expect to be
questioned, investigated and potentially prosecuted for committed terrorist offenses.
"People who went out there often
as amateurs are now professional terrorists or professional supporters of
terrorism, and we have to make sure
we mitigate that threat should they
come back," he said.
But a lawyer for the families of the
teenagers said they “should be treated
as victims, so long as they hadn't committed any further offenses while they
are out there," reported CNN.
Meanwhile, an analyst at the Tony
Blair Institute said the UK should not
only take responsibility in investigating and prosecuting its nationals under the law, but that it needs to provide
proper support structures to facilitate

their rehabilitation.
Begum's case is not isolated. In
the US, two women wish to return
home, regretting their decision to
join ISIS. Hoda Mothana says that
when she was 20, she fooled her
parents by telling them she was going on a college trip but actually
flew to Turkey. Gwen Polman first
studied in Canada before joining the
caliphate. Both women now wish to
have their passports renewed and
win the sympathy of the country
they had abandoned, reported the
New York Times.
Authorities will decide the best
course of action for former terror
sympathizers wanting to return, but
equally important is ensuring that
fewer young people—not only in
the UK or US but across the globe
including the Philippines—find
themselves lured to the extremists'
cause.
It is likely terrorist recruiters
perform their missions thoroughly
and methodically, employing psychological means to attract impressionable young people to join their
cause. They can take advantage of
technology to amplify their message, social networking to simulate
emotional connections, or economic
rewards to gain these young people's
trust and, eventually, radicalization.
Parents, teachers and other
guardians must take steps to ensure
that their wards do not come close
to such temptations. As Begum's
case illustrates, one decision can
have irreversible consequences no
matter how much one wants to restore things to the way they were.

Turn to A5

A country by any other name
POP GOES
THE WORLD
JENNY
ORTUOSTE
THE main argument in favor of changing our country’s name is that “Philippines” is a reminder of our colonial
past, and altering it will further the decolonization process. Who needs to be
reminded every day that as Filipinos,
we literally call ourselves after Philip
II, scion of our conquerors?
The late dictator Ferdinand Marcos
proposed the name “Maharlika.” He
claimed it meant “nobility?—but this
idea stems from a Spanish mistranslation perpetuated by historians Blair
and Robertson in their book ‘The Philippine Islands 1493 to 1898.’ “Maharlika” actually means “vassal” to the
ruling class (kadatuan).
“Since the Maharlika episode,”
wrote Nathan Gilbert Quimpo in
‘Colonial Name, Colonial Mentality and Ethnocentrism’ (2003) “there
have been several attempts to have
the country´s name changed…Almost
each time, the main argument presented for the name change was that Philippines is of colonial origin. The new
proposals have all been shot down,
and Philippines has prevailed.”
Quimpo related the arguments
against a name change, ones that we
are hearing again. He cited Remigio
Agpalo who had said in 1980 that
“Philippines” is “a symbol of a saga
of nation-building, a struggle for freedom, a history written in the blood and
sweat of Rizal, Bonifacio, and many
other national heroes and in the sweat
and tears of ordinary citizens.”
Some argued that many have fought
and died for the “Philippines,” and
others like columnist Ricardo Malay
in 1996 opined that “There is no real
stigma to the name Philippines any
more than there is to America, named
after the Italian Amerigo Vespucci.”
This is the same argument raised last
week by Quezon City Rep. Feliciano
Belmonte Jr.
In 2013, the Komisyon ng Wikang

Filipino passed a resolution changing “Pilipinas” to “Filipinas” as being
more historically accurate. The idea
was shot down by the public, who said
the alteration of just one letter did not
justify the immense cost of having stationery and signage changed.
As I wrote at the time, “But if we are
going to change our country’s name,
why stop with one letter and still perpetuate the memory of the colonizers,
whose yoke our forebears threw off
with blood, sword, and fire?”
“Philippines and Filipino are both
tarnished terms,” wrote Quimpo.
“There is more to their being colonial than historians and other social
scientists have perceived or cared to
admit.”

Perhaps the idea for a
name change has not
gained much support
because there haven’t
been any catchy names
suggested.

“They in fact represent what Frantz
Fanon referred to as the internalization or ‘epidermalization’ of inferiority among peoples subjected to
colonization or prolonged oppression.
Moreover, in different stages of the
country´s history—and not just during
the Spanish period—‘Philippines’ and
‘Filipino’ have been associated with
racial, class, ethnic/national and religious discrimination.”
To illustrate, “filipina” is used by
Japanese and some other nationalities
to refer to domestic helpers, the price
we pay for exporting workers abroad.
“Filipinos” are the brand name of a
snack sold in Spain, Portugal, and
other European countries. They are
white cookies covered with milk or
dark chocolate. Cookies that are white

Turn to A5

'I obeyed like a robot': Abuse survivor
tells of predator priest

By Lucie Peytermann

DENISE Buchanan was 17 when she
was raped by a seminarian who continued to abuse her when he became a
priest in her native Jamaica. The Catholic Church, she says, has offered her
nothing but their "prayers."
"I got pregnant and he arranged a
clandestine abortion," Buchanan, still

shaking and close to tears 40 years after
the ordeal, told AFP.
Today aged 57, the academic is a
leading member of a new international
organization, Ending Clerical Abuse
(ECA), which is bringing together
victims in Rome this week to pressure
Pope Francis to take a tougher line on

child abuse by clerics.
She has struggled in vain for years
for the Church to officially recognize
her as a victim—even writing to the
pope himself—while the priest who
abused her has escaped justice.
Buchanan's struggle underscores the
Turn to A5

Dangerous driving
THERE is not a single day that we
do not read in the papers or watch on
TV of people dying due to traffic accidents. The scary part is that it is happening with increasing frequency. This
simply shows that driving in this country is getting to be very dangerous.
There are many reasons for this
phenomenon. One is the changing
patterns of the driving culture in this
country, principally due to increasing motorization. The other is a road
system that cannot keep pace with this
rapid motorization both in terms of
road length and engineering standards.
Many of our roads are simply substandard. In the Metropolitan area, motorists are force to compete for the limited
road space.
Drivers have be more aggressive
and we are beginning to see fewer and
fewer drivers who are willing to give
way to other motorists. Road courtesy
appears to be disappearing. In 2015,
which is the year that there is a reliable
data, 10,767 people were killed in this
country due to vehicular accidents.
This is a 45.76-percent increase from
the 6,869 figure in 2006 and constitutes about 1.74 percent of the country’s total deaths. It also translates to
about 11.82 people dying per 100,000
population.
Traffic deaths have been increasing
since 2006. Beginning in 2010, traffic
deaths have never been below 8,000.
It is therefore safe to assume that for
2018, the number of road deaths will
be much higher. The most vulnerable
group are those ages 15 to 64. It was
about 82.17 percent of the road deaths
or 8,227 of the total deaths.
Traffic accident is also the major
cause of death of those belonging to
the 20-to-29 age group. A sad part in
this includes the death of 600 children.
It is worse among motorcycle riders.
Nationwide, 69 percent of all road
deaths involved motorcycles which is
hardly surprising because of the total
8.7 million motor vehicles registered
nationwide, in 2015, 4.8M are motor-

‘I obeyed...
From A4

sense of isolation felt by many victims
who see the institution as still in denial,
particularly in poorer countries where
the Church remains politically and socially influential.
She was living in Kingston when her
sister introduced her and her family to
the future priest, then known as Brother
Paul, a theology student and a member
of the Congregation of the Passion of
Jesus Christ.
"Brother Paul would talk at length
with my father, and my mother would
invite him to stay for dinner," she said.
"He told me he was very attracted to
me. I felt awkward. He said that they
[the Church] made rules that he didn't
agree with, and he did what he needed
to do to do the work of the Church,"
Buchanan said.
She claimed that Brother Paul forced
himself on her, saying: "He pressed his
lips on my lips, inserted his tongue...
His hands were touching my legs and
breasts. I pulled away and told him to
take me home."
Buchanan said she felt so ashamed
that she decided not tell her parents,
fearing their reaction.
Years of depression
Over the following weeks, the clergyman called several times at her parents' home to take her to Sunday Mass
or to the rectory.
One day, he invited Denise into the
rectory and "showed (her) to his bedroom" where he sexually assaulted her,

Inanities...
From A4

But, my gulay, the law is clear about the
limits of campaign spending. In other
words, some senatorial aspirants are already violating the law. To think that the
findings were made before Feb. 13, the
official start of the campaign period.
According to PCIJ, the P2.4 billion
has gone to television, radio, print and
outdoor advertising last year alone.

cycles. Motorcycle riders have been
the top victims of road accidents in
Metro Manila since 2010. The number
reached 81.04% in 2015. This maybe
because motorcycle riders seems to
have the mistaken belief that all traffic regulations do not apply to them.
Motorcycles can be dangerous to car
owners because of the constant weaving and overtaking on all sides. They
also routinely get out of their lanes and
drive against incoming traffic.

Among the major island groups,
Luzon has the most traffic accidents
and fatalities because most of the vehicles are in Luzon followed by the
Visayas and Mindanao. For 2015, 51.6
percent of nationwide road deaths
were in Luzon. To put our country’s
traffic figures in better perspective, it
might be educational to see how we
compare with the United States. In
the U.S., the latest data shows that
there are 34,064 traffic deaths or 10.9
per 100,000 population. This is out
of 263.6 million vehicles registered
in 2015. Compare that figure to our
8.7 million registered vehicles and we
can begin to understand the immensity of our traffic problems.
If we look at our road system and
transport figures, it is clear that we are
heading to a situation that will cause
huge problems if our transport and
highway authorities will not start addressing the problem. As Filipinos
continue to motorize at a much faster
rate because of increasing income,
traffic accidents will also continue to
increase. It is about time that there
must be a corresponding improvement
in driver education, traffic enforcement
and road infrastructure. The country

has a total of 32,868 kilometers of
roads or 20,423 miles. Only 21,181 kilometers of the roads are concrete. The
greater Los Angeles Metropolitan area
has more than 12,000 miles of roads
which tells us that we have a lot of
work to do.
We do not only need to lengthen our
roads but also improve their quality to
ensure that our road system meets international standards. When it comes
to the length of our road system, we
can compare favorably or even better than many of our neighbors. But
in terms of quality, we are lagging.
Our road system translates to about a
kilometer of road per one square kilometer which is respectable but has
not hardly moved over the years. Let
me say, however, that the road figures mentioned here do not include
private roads. If we include private
roads, then the length of our roads increases. There are no reliable figures
for private roads but in the metro area,
private roads come to a few thousand
kilometers but are not all open to the
public at large which contribute to
the daily traffic gridlock. Most of the
projects in the metro area consist of
big road projects connecting major
road systems. Not much is done to improve local roads. A major part of the
government effort should also address
this because this is where a major part
of the problem is located. Most of the
public roads in the metro suburbs and
other major cities are not constructed
to standards. The roads are narrow and
are being used as parking areas for
vehicle owners. It is therefore hardly
surprising that many accidents occur.
Even in national highways such as the
old Macarthur Highway in Luzon, it
is regularly used for palay drying and
many electrical posts have not been
removed from the road.
The government is of course currently implementing its Build, Build,
Build program and a major part of this
is the construction of new freeways.
The government, however, should
come up with a program requiring local government units to upgrade their
existing road systems to meet international standards. Otherwise, road
deaths will only continue to rise by
leaps and bounds.

she said.
A few days after, he raped her after
making her drink some wine, she said.
"I felt something died inside me that
day," she whispered.
Several weeks afterwards, she discovered she was pregnant after fainting
in a shop, leading Brother Paul to organize an illegal abortion for her. "All I
could think of was the disgrace I was to
my family," she said.
Later he was ordained as a priest, but
still came by her university residence at
least once a week for sex.
"He told me he loved me and I was
his girl," she said, adding that she accepted seeing him because she felt
worthless and alone.
"I obeyed like a robot. I didn't care
much about anything at this point," she
said.
At 21, she got pregnant again, and
had another backroom abortion, Buchanan said, adding with a broken
voice that she has been unable to have
children since.
She managed to move to Canada at
age 25 for her studies, and then to Los
Angeles, where she now teaches at a
university and works as a psychiatric
neurologist.
She married in Canada, but divorced
two years later.
"I did not resolve the anger and fear
I had of the relationship with Father
Paul," she said.
"I have carried this guilt and shame
all my life and I have had many decades
of therapy for depression," she added.

Pope's 'prayers'
Seeking to overcome her mental
anguish, she wrote a book about her
experience, "Sins of the Fathers", in
2013 and sent a copy to the pope "every
month for a year and a half."
In June 2016, she finally received a
letter from the Los Angeles archdiocese
saying the pope regularly prayed for
"victims of abuse" and that he would
pray for her.
But to see the priest defrocked she
would have to "gather proof" of the
abuse, she was told.
"I was furious when I got the letter as
it seemed all I was being offered from
the pope were prayers with no help to
resolve the issue," she said.
In November 2017, she returned
with a lawyer to Jamaica for a meeting
with the local archbishop and Father
Paul.
"At the meeting the priest confessed
to having sex with me [not rape], he
confessed that he got me pregnant but
he did not admit to arranging the abortion," she said.
Buchanan fears the priest abused
other victims over the years. "They
moved him around from parish to parish because, from what I heard, he is a
troublemaker."
Following the meeting with her, the
priest went missing from his parish and
"no one seems to know where he is,"
she added.
"I work at ECA so that what happened to me does not happen to any
other child," Buchanan whispered. AFP

Top spenders were Bong Go (P422.5
million), Imee Marcos (P413.1 million)
and Mar Roxas (P401 million).
Harry Roque had already spent P174
million before deciding to quit the race.
Several questions arise: The salary
that a senator will receive for the entire six-year term will only total P18.7
million, or one-tenth of the allowable
amount. So how does a lawmaker re-

cover the funds he or she has spent?
Of course we know that part of the
campaign funds come from donors. The
candidates can always claim that it was
their contributors who sprung for the
campaign.
But do we really think the Comelec
can disqualify Bong Go, the President’s
favorite candidate?
***

Local government
units must be
required to upgrade
their existing road
systems to meet
international
standards.

A5

mst.daydesk@gmail.com

Budget-making process
urgently needs reform
THE making of the annual national
budget—the GAA (General Appropriation Act) is one of the most
important activities of a democratic
society, and the GAA is one the
two documents that are of greatest
significance for the development
of a capitalist economy. Yet today
the budget-making process and the
people responsible for its making
are under severe attack.
The attack is premised on four
widely held beliefs, to wit (1) that
legislations interfere in the making of the national budget, (2) that
unworthy economic and social
projects get included in the NEP
(National Expenditures Program),
(3) that many budget items are
overpriced on inadequately documented, and (4) that insertions into
the budget are made after the proposed GAA has been approved by
the House of Representatives, from
which money bills must emanate.
Because these beliefs have sufficient basis, the process of preparing
the GAA needs thorough reform. To
that end, a bill to reform to budgetmaking process needs to be filed,
assuming that no move in that direction has yet been made.
Legislators are legitimate participants in the budget-making process. They have a right—nay, the
responsibility—to pursue the needs
of their constituents before the
Executive branch of government,
more specifically NEDA (National
Economic and Development Authority) and DBM ( Department of
Budget and Management).
They have the right, and they
need, to point out to the NEDA planners and to the DBM managers the
projects that are of greatest value to
their constituents. But this involvement in the making of the national
budget should take place while the
document is being drafted and prior
to its presentation to the Legislature. Once the budget is presented
to Congress, the task of legislations
is limited to ensuring that the expenditure items items embodied in

A country...
From A4

the budget are justified, correctly
priced and adequately documented.
Scrutiny of the annual budget bill
is clearly the legislative’s most important function, for the hopes and
aspirations of the nation’s citizens
for a life and embodied in the pages
of the proposed bill. Legislators are
at their best when, through hearings
and other information-gathering
means, they establish the soundness, legality cost-effectiveness of
proposed expenditures.

It has become
unbearable.

The expenditures presented to
them for scrutiny are the only expenditures that are legitimately
covered by congressional determinative proceedings: Subsequent additions—are not part of the deal.
In the distant past the objects of
public opprobrium were the CDF
(Countrywide Development Fund)
pork barrel allotments to the members of Congress. In the more recent past public disdain has been
directed at the pork barrel payments
associated with the disgraced Janet Lim Napoles, i.e., the PDAF
(Priority Development Assistance
Fund) pork slabs. Today the object
of public anger are the insertions
made into the newly approved 2019
GAA.
Criticism and adverse commentaries of this country’s budgetmaking process, no matter how
trenchant and no matter how widespread, no longer suffice. The bad
practices associated with the process are no longer bearable. Things
have gotten out of control.
Total reform of the national-budgeting process is the order of the
day. The Executive Department—
NEDA and DBM—and Congress
need to get together as soon as possible after the electoral exercise,
which should result in the drafting
of budget reform legislation.

names of indigenous or un-colonial
derivation: Burkina Faso, Namibia,
Sri Lanka, Uruguay, Vanuatu, and
Zimbabwe.
Perhaps the idea for a name change
has not gained much support because
there haven’t been any catchy names
suggested. “Maharlika” is tainted.
According to Quimpo, “Among the
alternative names submitted to the
Constitutional Commission of 1986
and to the Philippine Congress were
Rizal, the name of the country´s national hero; Bayani, an indigenous Tagalog term which means “hero”; and
Luzviminda, short for Luzon, Visayas
and Mindanao, the names—of preHispanic origins—of the three main
island groups of the Philippine archipelago.”
As I wrote in 2013, “It seems our
ideas of nationhood, of selfhood, are
still fluid and we are as far as ever
from coming up with an indigenous
name, much less reaching a consensus
on one.”

inside and dark outside well describe
the colonial mentality many of us are
afflicted with.
Politicians from both the administration and opposition have suggested
a name change. President Rodrigo
Duterte recently floated “Maharlika,”
but for him it is not a matter of urgency. Of “Philippines,” he was quoted
as saying “Pero okay na yan. Balang
araw palitan natin.”
Two years ago, the opposition’s
Magdalo Rep. Gary Alejano filed
House Bill No. 5867, proposing the
creation of a commission to rename
the country.
“If we want to be truly independent,” he said, “then we should throw
away the bonds of colonialism by establishing our own national identity.
For our country to move forward, we
should identify a name for our country that genuinely reflects our national
aspirations, a name that signifies our
values and self-determination.”
A rose by any other name might smell
This was the direction taken by as sweet, but not a country. Find me
some former colonies that adopted on FB and Twitter: @DrJennyO

President Duterte has warned local
government units against using government resources in favor of any candidate. I think this is BS.
Do you think that administration
favorites like Go, Bato dela Rosa and
Francis Tolentino pay their own way
during sorties? Do they spring for the
performers, lunches and dinners and the
transportation of the people who attend

their rallies?
It’s customary for the LGUs to spend
for everything. This is a distinct advantage of being allied with the administration. Ask anybody who has gone
through a national campaign. This is
also why some enterprising barangay
leaders sell crowd support to candidates.
www.emiljurado.weebly.com

A6

News

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 2019

mst.daydesk@gmail.com

IN BRIEF
Poe: Character
more important
than college
degree
THE character of a candidate for
senator is more important than a
college degree, said reelectionist
Senator Grace Poe.
Sought for her comment on proposal to require higher education
for senators, Poe stressed that one’s
character was more important than
the education he or she achieved.
“In a democracy, you cannot say
that only those college graduates
can run because everybody should
have representation,” Poe, an independent senatorial candidate, added.
Poe said the electorate should
have a chance to check the credentials of the candidates.
“What is important, our people
should have the opportunity to
know and scrutinize each candidate,” said Poe, frontrunner in the
senatorial race based on preelection
surveys.
She also underscored the importance for the Senate to have independent senators especially during
investigations in aid of legislation.
“This should not only come
from one group. Don’t you think it
is much better if the Senafe is balanced and fair?” said Poe in a separate radio interview.
“We are there not only to craft
laws but also to ensure that its (sic)
implementation is right and there
wll be no corruption,” she said.
Poe was in the heritage town of
Vigan to go “back to basics” as she
spoke to students of the University
of Northern Philippines and met with
local ofﬁcials of the ﬁrst district of Ilo-

Finish projects on time, DPWH told
S
By Maricel V. Cruz

PEAKER Gloria Macapagal Arroyo on Tuesday told
public works ofﬁcials to ﬁnish their projects on time and
not exceed the budget alloted for such projects.

During the meeting of the House of
Representatives’ Committee on Public
Works and Highways that Arroyo attended, she inquired from Department of Public Works Highways ofﬁcials on the status
of the implementation of the ﬂood control
master plan and other issues in the system
in Passi, Iloilo.
Rep. Bayani Fernando of Marikina
City, committee chairman, called the
meeting with the public works ofﬁcials to
hear their brieﬁng on the project.
DPWH Project Director Patrick Gatan
explained that the Infrastructure Prepa-

ration and Innovation Facility Phase 2
(IPIF-2) shall provide infrastructure projects for the purpose of ﬂood control and
water resources management by reducing
the risk of ﬂood events and increasing
preparedness in affected communities of
six river basins in the Philippines, including Jalaur River in Iloilo.
The panel was pleased to ﬁnd out that
Phase 2 is already moving forward. Arroyo said Rep. Jerry Treñas of Iloilo City
will be instructed to announce the good
news to his constituents.
Gatan noted that the DPWH was not

able to complete the IPIF-Phase 2 due
to several reasons, including the 3,000
squatters occupying the surrounding areas of the Jalaur River.
Because of the squatters, the department plans to construct a retarding pond
upstream of the river to reduce the ﬂood
ﬂow coming from there.
This would be included in DPWH’s
2019 master plan. Gatan told the legislators that they will begin with the procurement of the right of way, and subsequently the construction of the ﬂood control
system.
Meanwhile, Fernando recommended
that the DPWH ﬁrst build the canal along
Jalaur River to create a boundary.
“If you reduced the ﬂooding right away,
they will encroach further and it will make the
waterway narrower,” he said.
Fernando also advised the DPWH ofﬁcials to use amphibious equipment to

dredge the lahar that is causing the riverbanks to constrict.
As mayor of Marikina, Fernando, an
engineer, solved the locality’s ﬂooding
problem that had plagued it for more than
50 years.
Arroyo directed public works ofﬁcials
to conﬁrm if they do not have the needed equipment for the project prompting
Gatan to promise that he will confer with
the Bureau of Equipment on the matter.
“You can begin immediately as soon
as you ﬁnd the amphibious equipment.
Congressman Treñas will give the good
news to his constituents. You better make
sure that [it] will happen,” Arroyo told
Gatan.
Treñas expressed his gratitude to the
Speaker as the ﬂood control project will
greatly help Iloilo.
The Committee will reconvene after March
8, 2019 to discuss updates on the IPIF-1.

House hearing
on Tandang
Sora flyover
THE Metro Manila Development
Authority on Wednesday backed
the idea of the Quezon City
Council’s proposal to postpone
the closure of the Tandang Sora
ﬂyover and intersection beginning Feb. 23.
At a congressional hearing led
by the House special committee on Metro Manila Development chaired by Quezon City
Rep. Winston Castelo, Quezon
City Vice Mayor Joy Belmonte
said the city government came
up with the proposal “to conduct
more information drives on alternative routes,” citing that motorists were not yet aware of the said
closure and the rerouting scheme.
“I think there should be a delay
because we found out that many
people are still uninformed of
this. So we’re asking if one week
postponement is okay. We want
to assure that everything is ironed
out,” said Belmonte.
“There is a lot more information
drive [about alternative routes]
that has to be done, and that three
days may not be enough for the
people to be well-informed about
it. Should Transportation Secretary [Arthur] Tugade is not amenable to our proposal, we will still
work with the time frame, we’ll
work overtime to inform our people,” she added.

O B I T UA RY

Florencio Manalo
He was called and he answered.
A good son, a loving brother to his
siblings, an excellent provider for
his children, and a loyal husband to
his wife.
A devout Catholic and a true
follower of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
Florencio Manalo Jr. passed on
peacefully and calmly on the 19th
of February. In his last breaths, he
was called by the virgin mother and
her son, Jesus Christ in heaven. He
accepted. Rest in peace tatay. Eternity
awaits in paradise. September 30,
1932/February 19, 2019.
Visitation will be from 5 in the
afternoon of February 20 until early
morning of February 23. He will
be laid to rest on February 23 at
the Holy Garden Memorial Park in
Angono, Rizal.

DRY RUN. Department Public Works and Highways Secretary Mark Villar (left) together with Metro Pacific Tollways Corp. officials leads the dry run of the NLEX Harbor Link

Segment 10 from Karuhatan, Valenzuela City. The elevated expressway will serve as an alternative corridor for motorists from Central and North Luzon, Quezon City and Valenzuela
to Manila. Andrew Rabulan

Du30 signs bill
on protection,
safety of children
displaced by war
By Macon Ramos-Araneta
THE Philippines will be more compliant with international obligations on the
safety and well-being of children, declaring them as special zones of peace
following President Rodrigo Duterte’s
signing of a measure that would provide special protection for children affected or displaced by armed conﬂict,
said Akbayan Senator Risa Hontiveros
on Wednesday.
Republic Act No. 11188, otherwise
known as “The Special Protection of
Children in Situations of Armed Conﬂict
Act,” was signed on Tuesday by Duterte.
The law provides protection to children
in situations of armed conﬂict from all
forms of abuse, violence, neglect, cruelty, discrimination and other conditions
prejudicial to their development.
“Children are one of the most vulnerable groups in places of conﬂict. Prolonged
conﬂicts put their chances for education at
risk. Many of them are also displaced and
separated from their relatives and loved
ones. Worse, they lose their families and
suffer from serious human rights abuses,”
said Hontiveros,

Puyat defends font, logo of tourism drive
By Maricel V. Cruz
TOURISM Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat on Wednesday defended
the country's refreshed tourism campaign after its new font and logo generated a few negative reactions from
social media users.
‘‘The logo is inspired by woven textiles, the green is the rice terraces, the

blue is the water of the Philippines,
even the yellow is the mango so it represents what is good with the Filipino
culture,’’ Romulo-Puyat said in a television interview.
‘‘We want it to be more minimalist, the ﬁrst campaign was seven
years ago,’’ she added, pointing out
that the materials went through a series of studies.

On Monday, the Department of
Tourism unveiled a custom-made
font called “Barabara”—for public
use—drawing from the Filipino style
of hand-painted lettering, which is
often seen on jeepney signages.
The new logo, on the other
hand, is inspired by local woven
textiles in colors that best identify
the Philippines.

Ilocos Sur mayor ordered arrested for illegal detention
By Rey E. Requejo
and Maricel V. Cruz
A REGIONAL trial court in Ilocos Sur
has ordered the arrest of a town mayor charged with criminal cases over
the padlocking of a local beach resort
with its operator and four-year-old son
trapped inside.
Judge Raphiel Alzate of RTC,
Branch 24, issued a warrant of arrest

against Cabugao Mayor Josh Edward
Cobangbang last Tuesday in connection with the non-bailable case of serious illegal detention and grave coercion recently ﬁled by the Department
of Justice.
In the two-page warrant, the lower
court directed the Philippine National Police and National Bureau of Investigation
to arrest the mayor and 18 other accused
in the cases.

‘‘The Head of Ofﬁce to whom this
Warrant of Arrest is delivered for execution shall cause it to be executed within
10 days receipt thereof. Within 10 days
after expiration of the period, the ofﬁcer
to whom it was assigned for execution
shall make a return/report to the undersigned and in case of failure to execute
the same, said ofﬁcer shall state the reasons thereof,’’ stated the order obtained
by reporters from the DOJ.

New elevated road along C3 set to open
By Vito Barcelo
THE P10-billion 5.65 kilometer elevated
expressway that connects C3 in Valenzuela to North Luzon Express Way will
be opened to trafﬁc next week, Department of Public Works and Highways announced Wednesday.
Public Works Secretary Mark Villar
said the opening of the elevated road
will lessen travel time between Valenzuela to NLEX to less than 10 minutes
which usually takes more than hour of
drive because of heavy trafﬁc.

“We are glad that this much-awaited
trafﬁc decongestion project will soon
be open to our motorists. With this new
road, travel time between C3 and NLEX
will only take 10 minutes,” Villar said.
“Aligned with the vision of the
Duterte administration’s massive infrastructure plan,—the “Build Build
Build” program, the NLEX Harbor
Link Segment 10 is being anticipated to
improve accessibility and connectivity
between key areas of Metro Manila and
the northern provinces of Luzon via the
NLEX,” Villar said.

MANILA BAY REHAB. Manila City Administrator lawyer Jojo Alcovendaz (right), along with Jeric Sevilla of Manila Water and Jennifer
Rufo of Maynilad were the featured guests in the Kapihan sa Manila Bay held at the Cafe Adriatico, Remedios Circle on Wednesday. The
three officials discussed their roles in the government’s efforts to rehabilitate the Manila Bay. Lino Santos

Besides the grueling off-shore racing, there will also be a lot of in-shore racing that will happen in Subic Bay, which is part of the Subic Bay Cup Regatta.

PSC now
into smart
drug testing
By Peter Atencio
STARTING this year, the Philippine
Sports Commission will no longer
conduct random drug testing on athletes participating in international
meets in the country.
This includes the coming 2019
Southeast Asian Games later this
year, some months after the PCSM
has gone full blast with a new kind
of procedure known as smart drug
testing.
Dr. Alexander Pineda, head of the
Philippine National Anti-Doping
Organization (PHI-NADO), an independent body organized by the
PSC, said this right before the start
of the 2019 Southeast Asian Regional Antidoping Organization board
meeting at the Pan Pacific Hotel in
Manila.
“It’s targeted. The reason is, we
would like to use whatever available
resources we have. And we need to go
full blast this year,” said Pineda.
In random testing, an individual
athlete will be picked from a group
who have joined a competition.He
will have blood or urine sample tested
for banned substances as listed by the
World Anti Doping Agency.
In smart testing, specific individuals who have been performing well
will be chosen for such tests and a
certain substance as well.
As for the coming SEA Games,
Pineda said they are coming up
with plans and protocols to test all
medallists of certain substances
that have been put on the banned
list by the SEA Region Antidoping
Organization.

‘SEAG venues to be
completed in time’
D

EVELOPERS and associates tasked to construct
the modern sports complex inside the New Clark
City assured that facilities will be ready for the
Philippines’ hosting of the 30th Southeast Asian Games.
With nine months to go before the Nov.
30 to Dec. 11 biennial meet gets going, infrastructure developer MTD Philippines
and project partner Bases Conversion
and Development Authority (BCDA) said
construction of the complex is now halfway done or about 53 percent completed.
Both vowed to finish the construction
by August or about three months before
the regional meet.
“Internally sa amin, Aug. 31 for everything, including the athletes’ housing
and government residences. And ang deliverable natin sa BCDA ay October 30,
so may safety net na two months,” said
MTD Philippines President Engineer
Patrick Nicholas David.
The MTD officer was with Arrey Perez, BCDA vice president for business development and Deputy Director General
of the Philippine Southeast Asian Games
Organizing Committee, during the special Philippine Sportswriters Association
Forum held at Mimosa, Clark on Tuesday
to give updates on the construction of the
modern sports complex that will served
as the main hub of the SEA Games.
The 20,000-seater athletics stadium
will be over by June or July at the latest,
according to David, while the others will
be finished even earlier.
The new sports facilities are part of
Phase 1A of the New Clark City Government Administrative Center, and it
includes the track and field stadium, the
2,000-seater aquatics center, and an Ath-

POWERHOUSE Petron and F2 Logistics
shoot for their second straight win as they
collide with separate foes in the Philippine Superliga Grand Prix today at the
FilOil Flying V Centre.
The Blaze Spikers face Generika-Ayala
at 7 p.m., while the Cargo Movers tangle

with Sta. Lucia in the 4:15 p.m. opening
encounter of this exciting triple-header
that has ESPN5 and 5Plus as broadcast
partners.
With super imports Stephanie Niemer
and Katherine Bell doing the damage,
the Blaze Spikers were off to a good
start as they crushed PLDT Home Fibr,
25-19, 25-9, 25-10, in their ﬁrst game in
this import-ﬂavored conference backed
by Asics, Mikasa, Mueller, Senoh, Team
Rebel Sports, Bizooku, UCPB Gen, Hotel
Sogo and Data Project.

letes’ Village, while being surrounded
by a 1.4-kilometer river park development with bikeways and jogging paths.
“Noong una parang drawing lang,
pero ngayon hayan na, kitang-kita mo
na, may katawan na,” said David during
the session hosted by the BCDA and presented by San Miguel, Tapa King, and
the Philippine Amusement and Gaming
Corporation.
“We’re very confident na matatapos
ito and deliver a world-class facility for
the Filipino people.”
Perez assured the country will be well

prepared to host the SEA Games, which
was last staged in the Philippines in 2005.
“Sigurado ‘yan na makakapag-host
po tayo ng SEA Games,” said the PHISGOC officer.
“Our vision to have a sports city at the
New Clark City kasi napakalaki po niyan,”
he added. “And gusto naming tumulong for
the rebirth of Philippine sports.”
He also mentioned the role of the Philippine Sports Commission as a major partner
in developing and maintaining the sports
facilities being constructed by the BCDA
located in Capas and Bamban, Tarlac.
There are 56 sports to be played by
nearly 10,000 athletes from 11 countries.
The 11 countries are Brunei Darussalam,
Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia,
Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Timor-Leste, and Vietnam.

New Clark City Project Director Admiral Jose Miguel Rodriguez (right) and Philippine SEA
Games Organizing Committee Deputy Director General Arrey Perez promise the readiness of the Philippines to host the coming SEA Games.

Subic-Verde
Island sailing
race lures
foreign cast
SUBIC BAY—Around 13 local and
international sailing teams will take
part in the 2nd Standard Insurance
Subic Bay around Verde Island Passage Race and the Subic Bay Cup
Regatta slated Feb. 23 to March 2.
Germany, Australia, Hong Kong
and the Philippines will be showcasing teams in the six-day sailing
Grand Prix, organized by the Subic
Sailing Team and held under the
auspices of the Philippine Sailing
Association and the Asian Yachting Grand Prix.
Besides the grueling off-shore
racing, there will also be a lot of
in-shore racing that will happen
in Subic Bay, which is part of the
Subic Bay Cup Regatta, said Zed
Avecilla, Executive Director of the
Subic Sailing Club.
“One of the most exciting part of
the series is the Far East 28R OneDesign Match Racing and Fleet
Racing which will be part of the
30th SEA Games this November in
Clark, Pampanga,” Avecilla said.
“This will be a practice race for our
Filipino athletes who will be competing in the SEAG.”
In this year’s regatta event, the
racing classes I and II (IRC I and II)
will be competing together in the 200
nautical-mile SBVIP, led by veteran
campaigner 75-footer and powerhouse Centennial III, skippered by
Judes Echauz, the co-recipient of the
Executive of the Year award from the
Philippine Sportswriters Association
during its annual PSA Awards Night
last year.
Centennial III will again encounter last year’s SBVIP inaugural race champion Geoff Hill’s
Smith 72 Antipodes. Centennial
came second over the line two minutes later in corrected time, while
Ray Ordeveza’s Excel 53 Karakoa
placed third.
Other Centennial III challengers
include Albert Altura’s Hurricane
Hunter, Mills 43 Custom Misty
Mountain of George Hacket, veteran local campaigner Selma Star of
Jun Avecilla, Germany’s Emocean
I helmed by Michael Raueber, another local entry Sabad of Bobby
Benares, and Karakoa.
For two consecutive years, Centennial III’s perennial rival in the
Subic Bay to Boracay Regatta
Race, Hong Kong’s Jelik of steel
magnate Frank Pong, failed again
to participate this year for unknown reasons.
Avecilla explained that Standard
Insurance, the title sponsor of this
event, is the number one supporter
of sailing in the Philippines.
“Their commitment to sailing
goes beyond developing top sailor
athletes and coaches. Protecting the
environment is also at the heart and
soul of the company,” said Avecilla.
All protagonists will still need to
negotiate a 200-mile race, the same
distance of the Subic Bay to Boracay
tilt, sailing off from Subic Bay down
to Verde Island Passage in Puerto
Galera, Oriental Mindoro and back
to Subic Bay on the same day.
The Verde Island Passage is a
strait that separates the islands of
Luzon and Mindoro, connecting
the South China Sea with the Tayabas Bay in Quezon province and
the Sibuyan Sea in Romblon.

FAR Eastern University-Diliman and National University go for all the marbles in
the one-game Final for the UAAP Season
81 juniors’ football championship Thursday (today) at the Moro Lorenzo Field.
Kick-off is at 3 p.m.
The Baby Tamaraws and the Bullpups

battled to a scoreless draw in their two
elimination-round meetings this season.
FEU-Diliman is seeking to extend
its dynastic rule to nine years, while
NU is eyeing to claim a breakthrough
championship right on its second year
of participation.
In the men’s division, Ateneo makes
it debut against University of the East at
1 p.m., while University of Santo Tomas
seeks the solo lead as it tangles with Adamson University at 9 a.m.
Gio Pabualan and Orlan Togores may

have been gone after their successful sixyear high school run, but the Baby Tamaraws were able to claim the top of the
table with 17 points.
FEU-Diliman has ﬁve wins and two
draws -- its lone setback coming at the
hands of Ateneo, 3-4, last Feb. 3 as it already sealed its place in the Final.
After a third-place ﬁnish during its debut last season, the Bullpups made huge
strides with 16 points in second spot -- entering the one-game ﬁnal undefeated with
four wins and four draws.

YUKA Saso matched her
opening day output of 70
and broke away from a
three-way tie to a threestroke lead and closer to
keeping the Champion
Philippine Ladies Amateur
Open crown at the Manila
Golf and Country Club in
Forbes Park yesterday.
Out to atone for her putting struggle late in the first
round where she flubbed
five birdie chances inside eight feet that
enabled Yosita Khawnuna of Thailand
and Mafy Singson to gain a share of the
lead, Saso actually failed to hit her scoring
target but succeeded to wrest control as
her rivals faltered one after the other with

over-par scores.
“My putting was good
enough but I know I can still
be better,” said the reigning
Asian Games gold medalist, who birdied the opening
hole for the second straight
day and added three more
on Nos. 7 (10 feet), 9 (20
feet) and 18 (two feet).
She, however, failed to
return a five-footer for par
on No. 3 and bogeyed Nos.
4 and 8 on errant drives and missed two
birdie opportunities.
But her second one-under card at the
par-71 posh layout proved enough to net
her the solo lead at 140 as Khawnuna, 16,
cracked under pressure and hobbled with a

73 and slipped to solo second at 143.
Singson, on the other hand, turned
from impressive to mediocre as she skied
to an 80 and tumbled to joint fifth with
Taiwanese Sung You-chuan (74) and Inagaki Nanako of Japan (72) at 150, now 10
strokes behind in the event presented by
Champion and sponsored by Hana Shampoo, EVA Air, San Miguel Corp. and Diamond Motor Corp.
Thai Wannasaen Chanattee and Sofia
Chabon matched Saso’s 70 to seize solo
third at 144 and fourth at 145, respectively,
but the deficit could be too big to overcome given the form and confidence of the
most fancied player in the fold who took a
step closer to retaining the crown she won
by two of Mikha Fortuna at the Orchard
last year.

IN BRIEF
FDC files petition
to recover P1.476b
FDC Misamis Power Corp. ﬁled a petition with the Energy Regulatory Commission to recover from Mindanao
consumers P1.476 billion following the
suspension of the Interim Mindanao
Electricity Spot Market.
FDC Misamis ﬁled a petition for recovery of unaccounted energy against
the Independent Electricity Market
Operator and the Philippine Electricity
Market Corp.
PEMC was the operator of Wholesale
Electricity Spot Market, the country’s
trading ﬂoor for electricity before it was
turned over to IEMOP.
FDC Misamis, in its petition, wanted
IEMOP as the IMEM operator to recover on behalf of the company as the
independent power producer administrator of Mr. Apo 1 and Mt. Apo 2
geothermal power plants and the owner
of the 2,700-megawatt Mindanao coal
plant, the payment for electricity consumed by electric distribution utilities
and end-users in Mindanao in February
2014. Alena Mae S. Flores

Business

Mobile number law
boosts data privacy
THE National Privacy Commission said
Wednesday the enactment of the Mobile
Number Portability Act will expand the
digital space and boost data privacy in
the Philippines.
The law allows all mobile postpaid or
prepaid subscribers to retain an existing
mobile number despite shifting from
one mobile service provider to another.
NPC said the new law would give
data subjects control over their data
which is a basic tenet under the Data
Privacy Act. The commission supports
the proper implementation of the law to
promote consumer welfare and fosters
innovation and competition in the telecommunications industry.
“We likewise recognize this measure
as an embodiment of the right to data
portability provided under Section 18
of the Data Privacy Act of 2012,” the
commission said.
“We shall continue to work with the
National Telecommunications Commission and all concerned agencies tasked to
implement this law and provide additional
inputs in the crafting of the implementing
rules and regulations and other policies,
as may be necessary and appropriate,” the
commission said. Othel V. Campos

SSS to support
jobless members
STATE-RUN pension fund Social Security System expects additional funding
after President Rodrigo Duterte signed
into law Republic Act No. 11199 or the
Social Security Act of 2018 which increases the monthly contribution rate
from 11 percent to 12 percent this year
and 15 percent by 2025 and introduces
unemployment insurance.
“This is a huge success for the pension fund. This new law will breathe
in new life to SSS so that it can continue to serve its stakeholders, members, and pensioners. And we sincerely express our gratitude to President
Duterte for acknowledging the long
overdue need for this amendment and
signing this into law,” SSS president
and chief executive Emmanuel Dooc
said in a statement.
RA 11199 repealed RA 1161 as
amended by RA 8282 to strengthen
the pension fund. It allows the gradual increase of monthly contributions
from the current 11 percent to an additional 1 percentage point starting
in the year of implementation until it
reaches 15 percent by 2025.
Members will enjoy an additional
beneﬁt from the current six types with
the introduction of unemployment insurance. Covered qualiﬁed employed
individuals who may suffer from involuntary separation from work, will be
protected from a sudden loss of income
as the law has a provision for unemployment insurance. Julito G. Rada

Ray S. Eñano, Editor
Roderick T. dela Cruz, Assistant Editor

P3 PROGRAM HOTLINE. The Small Business Corp., the financing arm of the Department of Trade and Industry, will boost its
customer service to micro entrepreneurs as it teamed with ePLDT subsidiary Curo Teknika through a customer service hotline for the
Pondo sa Pagbabago at Pag-asenso program. Curo Teknika will provide SB Corp. with contact center solutions Mondays to Fridays
except holidays. Small Business Corp. president and chief executive Ma. Luna Cacanando (right) and Curo Teknika chief operating
officer Jeff Tinio seal the deal with a handshake.

HE Securities and Exchange Commission said
Wednesday publicly-listed companies will be
required to submit an annual sustainability report
starting 2020.
Under the sustainability reporting
guidelines issued by the corporate regulator, listed companies should report non-ﬁnancial and sustainability issues like environmental, social and governance aspects
of their businesses.
The SEC said the ﬁrst sustainability report should be attached to the 2019 annual
report of listed companies to be submitted
in 2020.
It said the non-attachment of the sustainability report to the annual report

would be subject to a penalty for an incomplete annual report.
The guidelines will be adopted on a
“comply or explain” approach for the ﬁrst
three years of implementation.
This means that while companies
would be required to attach the template
to their annual reports, they could provide
an explanation for items where they still
have no available data on.
It said that for companies that already
have sustainability reports in accor-

dance with the recognized frameworks
and standards, their reports will be considered as their compliance with the reporting template.
The SEC said an increased focus was
placed on companies to provide greater
disclosure and transparency not only on
ﬁnancial matters but also on non-ﬁnancial
and sustainability issues.
“Companies’ stakeholders now give
a greater attention to how businesses
impact the economy, environment
and society and the way corporations
respond to sustainability challenges,
in addition to ﬁnancial challenges,
determines their long-term viability
and competitiveness. Consequently,
sustainability reporting has emerged
as a common practice for companies
globally,” it said.

BANK of the Philippine Islands, the
fourth-largest lender in terms of assets, said Wednesday net income rose
3 percent in 2018 to P23.08 billion
from the previous year, buoyed by the
strength of core banking businesses.
The bank said it booked a net proﬁt
of P6.07 billion in the fourth quarter of
2018, up 13 percent from P5.37 billion
in the same period in 2017. Revenues
grew 20.4 percent, as net interest income rose 19.4 percent and non-interest income expanded 22.6 percent.
Comprehensive income for the
whole year reached P21.88 billion. Total revenues increased 10.6 percent to
P78.52 billion, driven by the 16.2-percent growth in net interest income to
P55.84 billion.
“The increase in net interest income
was a result of a 9-percent increase
in average asset base and a 21-basispoint expansion in net interest margin.
The yield on interest-earning assets
improved by 49 basis points, partially
offset by a 34-basis-point increase
in the cost of funds, owing to higher
documentary stamp taxes, higher time
deposit rates and an increase in other
borrowings,” BPI said in a disclosure
to the stock exchange.
Total loans grew 12.7 percent to
P1.35 trillion, boosted by the strong
growth in corporate loans and credit
card loans at 13.3 percent and 23.8
percent, respectively.
Total deposits went up 1.5 percent to
P1.59 trillion, with current and savings
accounts growing 2.4 percent. The
bank’s casa ratio stood at 71.9 percent,
while the loan-to-deposit ratio was
85.4 percent.
The bank registered a higher fee income from transaction-based service
charges, credit card and rental businesses. Lower trust and investment
management fees, corporate ﬁnance
fees and securities trading income
tempered the overall non-interest income results, ending at P22.68 billion.
“The capital that we raised in 2018
allowed us to invest in our ongoing
digitalization program, and in our
high-yielding SME, consumer and
microﬁnance businesses,” said BPI
president and chief executive Cezar
Consing.
“The returns from these investments
will become apparent in the coming
years. We’re quite excited by what
2019 offers,” Consing said.

Borromeo leaving DBP to become LandBank president
By Julito G. Rada
DEVELOPMENT Bank of the Philippines president and chief executive
Cecilia Borromeo was named the new
head of Land Bank of the Philippines in
place of Alex Buenaventura.
Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III on Wednesday conﬁrmed the
latest appointments in the two stateowned banks.
When asked if Borromeo would be

transferring from DBP to Land Bank
effective March 1, Dominguez said,
“Probably at a later date.”
Reports said Philippine Guarantee
Corp. president and chief executive
Emmanuel Herbosa would transfer to
DBP in place of Borromeo.
It is not clear if Buenaventura would
be assigned to another post after his
stint in Land Bank.
Borromeo was previously an executive vice president for agriculture and

development lending sector at LandBank before her assignment at DBP.
She also served as the treasurer of Victorias Milling Co. Inc.
Herbosa is an experienced banker, with a solid 40 years of professional banking under his name. He
held senior officer responsibilities
handling corporate banking, consumer banking, branch and overseas
banking in reputable local financial
institutions such as the Bank of

the Philippine Islands and Bank of
Commerce, where he served as the
executive vice president.
Herbosa was also the chief
operating officer of Ayala
Insurance, a unit of Ayala Group.
He graduated with a baccalaureate
degree in Industrial Management
Engineering from the De La Salle
University and a Master’s in Business
Administration from the Wharton
School, University of Pennsylvania.

B2

Business

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 2019
extrastory2000@gmail.com

Stocks rally; URC, Petron advance

T

HE stock market rose Wednesday on bargain hunting and
growing optimism that China and the United States will reach
a trade deal.

tive sentiment provided support to
regional currencies against the safebet dollar.
The yuan was among the big gainers
following a report that the US has called
on China to stabilize the unit as part of
any agreement between the world’s top
economic powers.
Wall Street returned from a long
weekend to provide a healthy lead as
US President Donald Trump said trade
talks—which resumed in Washington
Tuesday—were “going very well” but
are “very complex.”
He also indicated he could put
back the March 1 deadline for talks
to be concluded—when US tariffs on
Chinese goods are due to more than

double—saying it is “not a magical
date.”
Observers say that while there are
no details about the negotiations the
fact they are still talking and China appeared responsive to the call for yuan
stability was good news.
Hong Kong rose 0.9 percent while
Shanghai ended up 0.2 percent and Tokyo closed 0.6 percent higher.
Seoul and Taipei each climbed more
than one percent, Singapore put on 0.4
percent and Wellington 0.3 percent. But
Sydney slipped 0.2 percent.
The upbeat mood on trading ﬂoors
gave investors conﬁdence to buy
higher-risk currencies, pushing the
South African rand around one percent higher and Australia’s dollar up
0.7 percent. The yuan also climbed
0.7 percent.
The pound held gains after strong

British jobs and wages data, while it
was also getting support from hopes
that Prime Minister Theresa May could
win changes to her Brexit deal with the
European Union as she heads to Brussels later in the day.
While EU leaders have said they
are not willing to bend on the agreement, analysts say there could be some
movement that would help her push it
through parliament and avoid a messy
divorce that could hammer the British
economy.
“The EU is showing some possible
concessions about the timing of the
exit, as (European Commission chief)
Jean-Claude Juncker has said a delay
beyond the European parliamentary
elections in May would not be opposed,
but the UK has to request it, which they
have not done,” said Alfonso Esparza,
senior market analyst at OANDA.

ABS-CBN
says sales
of TVplus
sets hit 7m
By Darwin G Amojelar
ABS-CBN Corp. said sales of TVplus
continued to rise as it sold seven million units as of February this year—
four years since its launch in 2015.
Sales have steadily increased in the
past years as more and more Filipinos
patronize the country’s pioneering digital terrestrial television product.
Based on Kantar Media’s Q4 2018
report of DTT households nationwide,
ABS-CBN TVplus exclusive channels
CineMo and YeY have kept their spot
as the third and fourth most watched
channels, respectively.
Meanwhile, after the launch of new
exclusive TVplus channels last year,
Jeepney TV claimed the ﬁfth spot followed by Movie Central and Asianovela
Channel on the sixth and eighth rank.
TVplus’ pay-per-view channel
KBO, which is now open to all networks, meanwhile, has attracted 1.2M
unique TVplus customers to register
using the service.
ABS-CBN, which is rapidly transitioning into an agile digital company,
is the ﬁrst media and entertainment
company in the country to make the
historic switch from analog to digital
terrestrial television to transform the
TV viewing experience of Filipinos.
Based on the Kantar Media establishment survey in August 2018, 72
percent of non-cabled homes in Metro
Manila had an ABS-CBN TVplus box
against 55 percent in August 2017.
The number of non-cabled homes
with a TVplus box also increased in
Mega Manila to 65 percent from 44
percent, while those in the suburbs
grew to 57 percent from 33 percent in
the same period last year.
ABS-CBN TVplus also continues
to expand its signal coverage areas as
part of its mission to lead the country’s migration from analog to digital
broadcast by 2023.
Batangas in November became the
16th signal coverage area of ABSCBN TVplus. Other coverage areas
are Metro Manila, Bulacan, Nueva
Ecija, Pangasinan, Rizal, Laguna,
Pampanga, Tarlac, Benguet, Cavite,
Metro Cebu, Cagayan De Oro, Iloilo,
Bacolod and Davao.

Phoenix LPG,
Grainsmart sign
partnership deal
By Alena Mae S. Flores
PHOENIX LPG Philippines Inc. on
Wednesday signed an agreement with
Grainsmart Corp. as its exclusive marketer, distributor and seller of Phoenix
Super LPG products and equipment.
Phoenix said the partnership with
Grainsmart, the leading special rice
grains retail chain store in the Philippines with over 300 stores nationwide,
is expected to further amplify the
availability and accessibility of Phoenix Super LPG in the country.
“Aside from our continuous aim to
provide quality LPG products and services, I believe the best news about our
partnership with Grainsmart is the convenience we will be able to provide for
our customers. Our combined network
will beneﬁt the most those who are already using and those who would like
to try our brand but does not have easy
access to it yet. Through Grainsmart,
we will now be able to bring Phoenix
Super LPG closer to your homes,” said
PLPI general manager for Luzon Julgin Anthony Villanueva.
For start-up businesses who are interested in adding complementary
products in their portfolio, Grainsmart
will also start offering a 4-in-1 package that includes Phoenix Super LPG
and Posible—a digital transaction device—along with its rice and water
product offerings.
“While Phoenix Petroleum has
been relentless in its pursuit of being
an indispensable partner in the journey of everyone whose life we touch
through various expansion strategies,
we have also opened plenty of business opportunities to entrepreneurs
over the years,” said Phoenix Petroleum chief operating ofﬁcer Henry
Albert Fadullon.
“The partnership with Grainsmart
will provide our business partners a
new option on how they can grow their
businesses, expand their reach, and
provide Filipinos with complementary
products at the best value,” he added.

OSCOW―Russian
President Vladimir
Putin will deliver
his annual state of the nation
address on Wednesday as he
faces an unprecedented fall in
his approval ratings.
It will be the 66-year-old leader’s ﬁrst address to both houses of parliament since he
was elected to a fourth presidential term a
year ago, extending his long rule until 2024.
Last year, Putin used the address to unveil

a new arsenal of weapons in a nearly twohour speech that stunned the West and many
in Russia.
Speaking two weeks before his re-election,
Putin promised Russians higher standards of
living and hailed Moscow’s military might
as relations with the West reached post-Cold
War lows.
After the speech he enjoyed his highest approval rating since he came to power in 1999.
But a year on, Putin has seen his popularity
slide against a backdrop of economic problems.
A hugely unpopular reform raising the retirement age that Putin signed into law in October led to a major dip in his support.
A survey by Russia’s independent Levada Cen-

It’s time for SEC
to flex its muscles
THE Securities
and Exchange
Commission,
as the country’s
corporate
watchdog, must
show its teeth to assure investors they can compete in a
level playing ﬁeld in the Philippines.
Fair competition and adherence to investment rules are
what entice investors to do business in the Philippines.
Investor conﬁdence, along with stable macro-economic
policies, is critical in luring local and foreign capital. In
the corporate world, businessmen must be assured that
they are protected in the complex processes involved in
the buying and selling of shares.
The SEC will be put to another test when it rules on the
shareholder row hounding The Medical City. Speculation
is now focused on the elements of the decision.
Having charged an investor group identiﬁed with
Singapore-based ﬁrm Clermont with violations of key
provisions of the country’s Securities Regulation Code
(SRC), observers are now watching out for the possible
penalties that may be imposed for these infractions.
The SEC now has the chance to further cement the
respect of the business and investor communities–both
local and international. Its ruling will impart a lesson
that even big investors will never forget—never take
Philippine investment laws and regulatory bodies for
granted.
The SEC earlier charged Singapore-registered Viva
Holdings Inc. and its local partner Fountel Inc. with fraud.
The body found that the group may have “misrepresented
their independence from each other” as they went on a
buying spree of Medical City shares.
The SEC charged that the misrepresentation prejudiced
“the unsuspecting stockholders whose share value and
voting power have declined” as a result of the fraud.
The SEC cited an alleged “funding scheme” employed
by the group, in which foreign funds were channeled
from the Singaporean company to several local ﬁrms
either owned or identiﬁed with Jose Xavier “Eckie”
Gonzales.
But the game plan shocked many, considering that
Gonzales then was the trusted director–treasurer of the
Medical City, and nephew of the hospital’s founder and
chief executive ofﬁcer Dr. Alfredo “Alran” Bengzon.
The SEC said the acts constituted violations of provisions
of the Securities Regulation Code, which prohibit
“fraudulent, manipulative and deceptive act or practice in
connection with any tender offer.” The seriousness of the
violations will likely deserve severe penalties.
With the SEC being the recognized expert and
empowered authority on all laws regarding securities and
investments, its decision will be respected and upheld by
the courts.
A lawyer friends told this writer that the Philippine
SEC’s mandate and structure is closely patterned after
that of the United States Securities and Exchange
Commission (US SEC). The same is true for our laws
covering investments and the capital markets contained in
the country’s SRC. The Philippine SEC was established
in 1936—two years after the creation of the US SEC.
The US SEC has no compunctions about exercising its
regulatory muscles, making it a highly respected agency
and one of the most feared watchdogs in America.
Investors in the US know that you do not mess with the
US SEC.
Take the case of Tesla CEO Elon Musk. He had to pay
the US SEC a $20-million settlement after the corporate
watchdog charged him with a securities fraud due to a
misleading statement he made on Twitter that he could take
his company private. The US SEC action resulted in what is
now dubbed as the “most expensive tweet in history.”
The Philippine SEC is gaining the same reputation as
a fearless agency. On several occasions, the regulatory
body slapped some of the richest businessmen in the
country with hundreds of millions in ﬁnes for alleged
violations of securities laws.
The country’s own SRC, meanwhile, is as rigorous
and stringent as its US counterpart. The SRC, enacted
in 2000, could not have come at a better time to ﬁnally
replace the outdated Revised Securities Act of 1982. The
SRC was in response to the biggest stock manipulation
scandal in the Philippines involving BW Resources. The
law designated the SEC as the primary enforcement
agency.
The SRC enabled the SEC to crack down on pyramiding
schemes, fraudulent investment contracts and defective
share subscriptions. The SEC has shown that it is not
afraid to use the power of that code. It is expected to act
decisively on the The Medical City controversy.
E-mail: rayenano@yahoo.com or extrastory2000@
gmail.com or business@manilastandard.net

ter released in January found his approval rating
at 64 percent, the lowest since before Moscow’s
annexation of Crimea ﬁve years ago.
Another Levada poll in October found
only 40 percent of Russians would vote for
Putin if an election were held.
Political analyst Aleksey Mukhin predicts
Putin’s speech this year will focus primarily on “internal politics and the economy,”
which has suffered since it was hit with
Western sanctions in 2014 over Moscow’s
role in the Ukraine conﬂict.
According to a high-ranked source quoted
by Russian television channel Dozhd, the bulk
of Putin’s speech will be dedicated to “positive
topics” that “people can relate to”. AFP

Indonesian students flee
violence in Papua provine
JAKARTA―Hundreds of students have ﬂed ﬁghting in Indonesia’s restive Papua province, a local NGO said, amid unconﬁrmed
reports of violent military reprisals after a massacre of civilian
workers by separatist rebels.
The death of 16 governmentlinked employees at a remote jungle work camp, in early December, marked a dramatic escalation
from decades of mostly sporadic
skirmishes between poorly armed
and disorganized guerrillas and a
powerful Indonesian military.
Subsequent clashes prompted
the Nduga district government
to evacuate more than 400 students to Wamena, the capital of
neighboring Jayawijaya district,
according to Humanitarian Volunteers for Nduga and a local education agency ofﬁcial.

“Some of the students are suffering from trauma,” said Ence Geong,
a coordinator at the NGO, told AFP.
“When the military came to the
school in uniforms, some of the
students ran” in fear.
Scores of other residents are believed to have ﬂed to neighboring
districts or into the jungle amid
allegations soldiers carried out arson, harassment and the killing of
livestock and civilians, residents
and activists said.
Local resident Sripona Nirigi
told AFP her elderly father Gemin
—a priest—was shot dead in December during a sweep of the area
by the military.
His burned corpse was found
by one of her siblings some two
weeks later, she added. Her account could not be independently
veriﬁed. AFP

‘Holocaust denier’ barred
SYDNEY―Controversial British personality
David Icke has been blocked from entering
Australia, opposition parliamentarians said
Wednesday, after the conspiracy theorist was
blasted as a holocaust denier.
Icke, who denies anti-Semitism and believes the world is run by giant shape-shifting
reptiles, was due to start a speaking tour in
major Australian cities next month.
Opposition Labor MP Tim Watts on
Wednesday warned that Icke “could be
spouting his vitriol” in Melbourne, home to
Australia’s largest Jewish community within
weeks if he were allowed into the country.
“David Icke, a well-known British holocaust
denier, should not be allowed entry into Australia
to preach his toxic message,” he told parliament.
Watts posted an hour later on Facebook
that the government had listened and “banned
Icke from the country”, describing it as “an
important blow against rising anti-Semitism
in Australia”. AFP

NOTICE
OF SELFADJUDICATION
Notice is hereby
given that the estate
of the late Lorenzo
Raymundo
Arce,
who died on June
26, 2016 without
leaving any will, has
been settled by way
of self-adjudication
by his sole legal heir
and daughter, Trixia
Joyce Arce Fu, as
per Doc. No. 661,
Page No. 7, Book No.
1, series of 2019 of
Consul Vanessa G.
Bago-Llona, Consul
of the Republic of
the Philippines for
Northern California,
in San Francisco.

WHEREAS, duly accredited Filipino Communities (FiIComs), Nongovernmental Organizations (NGOs), and Civil Society Organizatiops (CSOs)
are hereby recognized as partners of the Commission in implementing the
overseas voting;
WHEREAS, Section 35 of Republic Act No. 9189, as amended, provides
that, in the interest of transparency, all necessary and practicable measures
shall be adopted to allow representation of accredited citizens’ arms and
nongovernment organizations to assist, and intervene in appropriate cases, in
all stages of the electoral exercise and to prevent any and all forms of fraud and
coercion.
WHEREAS, it is expected that the 2019 Automated National and Local
Elections will generate higher voter interest and that a great number of FilComs,
NGOs and CSOs may be accredited as partners of the Commission in voter
education, information campaign, and other voting related activities;
NOW, THEREFORE, pursuant to the powers vested in it by the Constitution,
Republic Act No. 9189 as amended by Republic Act No. 10590, the Omnibus
Election Code, and other election laws, the Commission on Elections has
RESOLVED, as it hereby RESOLVES, to promulgate the following guidelines:
Section. 1. Definitions. - For purposes of this Resolution:
(a)

FILIPINO COMMUNITY refers to a group of Filipinos of any size whose
members reside in a specific locality organized due to their common
regional, cultural and historical heritage, interests, occupation which are
perceived to be or perceiving itself as distinct in some respect from the
larger society within which it exists.

(b)

NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATION refers to a Philippine
organization that is neither a part of the Philippine government nor a
conventional business establishment. It is organized by ordinary citizens,
and may be funded by Philippine government, foundations, businesses, or
Filipino citizens.

(c)

CIVIL SOCIETY ORGANIZATION refers to the aggrupation of Filipino nongovernmental organizations and institutions that manifest the interests and
will of the citizens of the Philippines and are independent of the Philippine
government.

Sec. 2. General requirements for accreditation. - All parties requesting
for accreditation shall be required to submit the following:
1. A duly accomplished Accreditation Application Form;
2. List of officers and members including their addresses and contact numbers;
and
3. Photocopies of Valid IDs of officers and members.
Sec . 3. Application forms. - Application forms for accreditation shall be
available at the Office for Overseas Voting (OFOV) and at the Posts. Application
forms may also be downloaded from the COMELEC website (http://www.
comelec.gov.ph) and the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) website.
Sec. 4. Period for filing applications for accreditation. - The period for
filing applications for accreditation shall be from 15 February 2019 to 31 March
2019. This period shall be non-extendible. Applications filed after the last day for
filing shall not be entertained.
Sec. 5. Filing and approval of applications for accreditation. Applications for accreditation shall be filed at the Posts. Approval of applications
for accreditation shall be issued by the Head of Post.
Sec. 6. Treatment of applications for accreditation. - Within seven (7)
days from the end of the period for filing applications, the Head of Post shall
immediately furnish copies of all applications, with attachments, including copies
of Certificates of Accreditation, to the OFOV.
Sec. 7. Certificate of Accreditation. - Upon accreditation, FilComs, NGOs
or CSOs, shall be issued their Certificates of Accreditation duly signed by the
Commissioner-in-Charge of OFOV or by the Head of Post. The Certificate of
Accreditation shall be strictly non-transferable and is valid only for the purpose
for which it was issued. Any abuse thereof shall result in revocation.
Sec. 8. Guidelines. - The duly accredited FilComs, NGOs and CSOs shall
observe the following guidelines:
a.

They shall be under the supervision and control of the COMELEC or the
Posts;

b.

They shall assist in organizing, managing, or operating the Voting Centers
including field and mobile voting;

c.

They shall coordinate the activities of all NGOs and private organizations
that are interested in involving themselves in the elections for the purpose
of ensuring free, clean, honest and fair conduct of the elections; .

d.

They shall deploy volunteers who may assist in the operations of the voting
centers and who may also provide assistance to registered voters during the
voting period;

e.

They shall assist the COMELEC or the Post by monitoring the conduct
of voting and by being made a member of the Task Force that may be
organized by the COMELEC or the Post for the purpose;

f.

They shall assist in the dissemination of information to educate and fully
inform the public about election laws, procedures, decisions, and other
matters relative to the work and duties of the COMELEC and the Posts and
on the necessity of clean, free, orderly and honest electoral process;

Invitation to Bid
for the
SLF WATER TREATMENT FACILITIES AND DRAINAGES AT BGY. SAN ISIDRO

g.

They shall observe the voting to ensure free, honest and orderly voting
process;

The City Government of Naga, through the LDF 2019-Environmental Management-Sanitary
Landfill Project, intends to apply the sum of TWENTY FOUR MILLION EIGHT HUNDRED
SIXTY SIX THOUSAND THREE HUNDRED (P 24,866,300.00) PESOS, being the Approved
Budget for the Contract (ABC) for the SLF Water Treatment Facilities and Drainages at
Bgy. San Isidro, Naga City, with Contract Reference Number: 006253-2018-02.

h.

They shall be strictly non-partisan and impartial during the voting period;

i.

They shall undertake to police their ranks and prevent infiltration by persons
or groups of persons who may, directly or indirectly, destroy its character of
non-partisanship and impartiality;

j.

They shall commit to submit themselves to the direct and immediate control
and supervision, and comply with the orders, of the COMELEC or the Post
in the performance of their functions and activities provided by law, and such
other functions and activities which the COMELEC or the Post may assign;

k.

They shall not be supported by or be under the influence of any foreign
government or any of its agencies or instrumentalities, or any foreigner,
whether natural or juridical person; and

I.

They shall not solicit or receive, directly or indirectly, any contribution or
aid of whatever form or nature from any foreign government or any of its
agencies or instrumentalities, or any foreigner, whether natural or juridical
person.

Bids received in excess of the ABC shall be automatically rejected at bid opening.
The City Government of Naga now invites bids for the SLF Water Treatment Facilities and
Drainages at Bgy. San Isidro, Naga City, with Contract Reference Number: 0062532018-02. Completion of the Works is required within 210 calendar days. Equipment Required:
plate compactor, plastic welding machine, 3-concrete mixer, 3-concrete vibrator. Bidders
should have completed a contract similar to the Project. The description of an eligible bidder is
contained in the Bidding Documents, particularly, in Section II, Instructions to Bidders.
Bidding will be conducted through open competitive bidding procedures using nondiscretionary “pass/fail” criterion as specified in the 2016 Revised Implementing Rules and
Regulations (IRR) of Republic Act No. 9184 (RA 9184), otherwise known as the “Government
Procurement Reform Act”.
Bidding is restricted to Filipino citizens/sole proprietorships, partnerships, or organizations with
at least seventy five percent (75%) interest or outstanding capital stock belonging to citizens
of the Philippines.
Interested bidders may obtain further information from the City Government of Naga and
inspect the Bidding Documents at the Office of the BAC Secretariat at the City Planning &
Development Office, 2nd Floor City Hall Building, City Hall Compound, J. Miranda Avenue,
Concepcion Pequena, Naga City from 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM.
A complete set of Bidding Documents may be acquired by interested Bidders starting on
Thursday, February 21 to March 15, 2019, from the Office of the BAC Secretariat at the City
Planning & Development Office, 2nd Floor City Hall Building, City Hall Compound, J. Miranda
Avenue, Concepcion Pequena, Naga City, and upon payment of the applicable nonrefundable
fee for the Bidding Documents, pursuant to the latest Guidelines issued by the GPPB, in the
amount of Twenty Five Thousand (P 25,000.00) PESOS, and an Annual Registration Fee of
Three Thousand (P 3,000.00) Pesos if not yet registered with the Naga City BAC, and upon
presentation of a Document Request List (DRL) from PhilGEPS showing your company name.
It may also be downloaded free of charge from the website of the Philippine Government
Electronic Procurement System (PhilGEPS) and the website of the Naga City Government
(www.naga.gov.ph), provided that bidders shall pay the applicable fee for the Bidding
Documents not later than the submission of their bids. Official receipts should be presented
during dropping of bids and enclosed in the bid documents (first envelope).
The City Government of Naga will hold a Pre-Bid Conference on Friday, March 1, 2019,
3:00PM at the City Procurement Office, Ground Floor, City Hall Building, City Hall Compound,
Naga City, which shall be open to prospective bidders.

Sec. 9. Effectivity. - This Resolution shall take effect on the seventh (7th)
day after its publication in two (2) daily newspapers of general circulation in the
Philippines.
Sec. 10. Dissemination and publication. - The OFOV shall furnish the
Office of the President, the Office of the Press Secretary, the Department of
Foreign Affairs, the Philippine lnformation Agency, FilComs, NGOs, and CSOs
copies of this Resolution.
The Department of Foreign Affairs shall furnish copies thereof to all foreign
embassies and consulates.
The Education and Information Department shall cause the publication of
this Resolution.
SO ORDERED.

Bids must be duly received to the BAC Secretariat at the City Procurement Office, Ground
Floor, City Hall Building, City Hall Compound, Naga City on or before 3:00 PM on Friday,
March 15, 2019. All bids must be accompanied by a bid security, either in the form of: cash
or cashier’s/manager’s check issued by a universal or commercial bank (2% of ABC), or, Bid
Securing Declaration (BSD).
Bid opening shall be on Friday, March 15, 2019, 3:00PM. at City Procurement Office, City Hall
Building, City Hall Compound, J. Miranda Avenue, Concepcion Pequena, Naga City. Bids will
be opened in the presence of the bidders’ representatives who choose to attend at the address
below. Late bids shall not be accepted.
The City Government of Naga reserves the right to reject any and all bids, declare a failure
of bidding, or not award the contract at any time prior to contract award in accordance with
Section 41 of RA 9184 and its IRR, without thereby incurring any liability to the affected
bidder or bidders.
For further information, please refer to:
MR. FLORENCIO T. MONGOSO, JR.
Acting City Administrator, Office of the City Administrator
2nd Floor City Hall Building, City Hall Compound, J. Miranda Avenue
Concepcion Pequena, Naga City 4400
bac@naga.gov.ph/junmongoso@naga.gov.ph, www.naga.gov.ph
(SGD) FLORENCIO T. MONGOSO, JR.
BAC Chairperson

UGUEGARAO CITY, Cagayan—The opening of its new satellite office in
Tuguegarao City, sports competitions, and a job fair for Cagayanos are among
activities scheduled this weekend in Santa Ana, Cagayan marking the 24th
anniversary of the Cagayan Economic Zone Authority.

In a statement, Secretary Raul L. Lambino, CEZA
Administrator and CEO, said the Authority will mark
several firsts in its history, one of them being the inauguration of CEZA’s new office that has a training
center for job seekers at the Cagayan Special Economic Zone and Freeport.
Lambino said the ongoing construction of a sani-

tary landfill and several infrastructure projects will be
inspected, and those in the pipeline will be unveiled,
including groundbreaking of the Central Business
District in Santa Ana during the anniversary celebrations on Feb. 25.
Groundbreaking for the Authority’s planned Corporate Center and Commercial Center will be held at
an 11-hectare property newly acquired
by CEZA in Barangay Rapuli, site of
the proposed facilities to be built, such
as hotel and condominium buildings,
duty-free shopping malls and entertainment plaza.
CCC No. 37
Tagaytay-Amadeo Road, Barangay Kaybagal Central
The weeklong celebrations kick off
Tagaytay City, Cavite
Feb. 23 in Barangays Casambalangan,
Rapuli, Diora Zinungan to San Vicente,
INVITATION TO APPLY FOR ELIGIBILITY AND TO SUBMIT
COMPARATIVE PROPOSALS (IAESP)

where Lambino will lead in the coastal cleanup and
tree-planting activities.
Sports competitions among CEZA employees and
locators at the Cagayan Freeport, and a medical and
dental mission for residents of Santa Ana and nearby
towns are scheduled Sunday. A job fair and a CEZA
awards night to honor the Zone’s top performers will
cap the first-day activities.
A CEZA Culinary Challenge featuring entries
from Cagayan’s 28 municipalities and one city will
be held Feb. 25 focusing on the food delicacies and
rich marine products of the country’s No. 1 tourist
destination in Northern Luzon.
Lambino said the rehabilitation and upgrading of
Port San Vicente, just across from the scenic Palaui
Island, are designed to allow the port to accommodate cruise vessels and RoRo ships.
Construction of three warehouses in Port Irene, he
said, will start next month, the first step to expand
the capacity of the cargo terminal.
Lambino said proponents of the most ambitious
project, the proposed satellite city named City Polaris, will visit Santa Ana next month for pre-planning
preparation and site inspection.

The Tagaytay CityWater District (TCWD), created pursuant to Presidential Decree No. 198, as
amended, otherwise known as the Provincial Water Utilities Act of 1973, received an unsolicited
proposal from the Original Proponent for the FINANCING, DEVELOPMENT, IMPROVEMENT,
REHABILITATION, EXPANSION, OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE OF THE WATER SUPPLY
AND SEPTAGE MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS OF TAGAYTAY CITY WATER DISTRICT.
Pursuant to the 2013 Guidelines issued by the National Economic Development Authority under
Section 8 of Executive Order No. 423 dated 30 April 2005, negotiations ensued between TCWD and
Original Proponent on the JV Proposal. Subsequently, an agreement was reached between TCWD
and Original Proponent to form an unincorporated joint venture to undertake the JV Project.
In compliance with TCWD Board Resolution2019-02-013, TCWD, through its Joint Venture Selection
Committee (JVSC), invites Interested Private Sector Participant/s (IPP’s) to challenge the JV
Proposal by submitting comparative proposals for the following:
Name of Project:

FINANCING,
DEVELOPMENT,
IMPROVEMENT,
REHABILITATION,
EXPANSION,
OPERATION AND
MAINTENANCE OF THE WATER SUPPLY AND SEPTAGE
MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS OF TAGAYTAY CITY WATER
DISTRICT

Location of Project:

Tagaytay City, Cavite,Philippines

Project Description:

The project involves a joint venture undertaking between
TCWD and the Winning Private Sector Participant for
the financing, development, improvement, rehabilitation,
expansion, operation and maintenance of the water supply
and septage management systems of Tagaytay City Water
District.

Applications for eligibility shall be evaluated based on a non-discretionary “pass/fail” criterion.
An IPP shall be considered eligible upon compliance with the following minimum qualification
requirements:
1.1.

2.

The IPP must be either of the following:
a.

A duly licensed sole proprietorship owned by a Filipino citizen; or

b.

A partnership or corporation created pursuant to the Corporation Code of the
Philippines and registered with the SEC.

c.

A Consortium of two or more entities with at least sixty percent (60%) of both
voting and non-voting interest in the said Consortium being owned and held,
by citizens of the Philippines and/or by Philippine registered corporations at
least sixty percent (60%) of both the total number of outstanding shares of
stock, whether or not entitled to vote in the election of directors are owned by
Philippine nationals.

1.2.

The nationality of the IPP shall be determined via the Grandfather Rule.

1.3.

If the IPP is a Consortium, each member of the Consortium must be disclosed
during the pre-qualification stage and the Lead Member thereof must be
specifically identified. For this purpose, the Lead member must have at least
fifty-onepercent (51%) equity interest in the Consortium, andthe total percentage
interest of all Consortium Members must be one hundred percent(100%).

1.4.

The IPP or each Consortium member must execute Omnibus Sworn Statement.

DIGITAL LEARNING. Public schools in the remote barangays of Hugpa, Mahayahay, and Inaad in

Ormoc, Leyte were nominated by the Department of Education to receive a School-in-a-Bag digital learning
kit each, donated by the PLDT-Smart Foundation. Each kit (as pictured, right) contains a teacher’s laptop,
Smart pocket Wi-Fi, projector, DVD player, and tablets pre-loaded with interactive content, including mobile
applications in Filipino, Cebuano and other local languages, developed in partnership with the DepEd and
academic institutions. Since 2016, Smart and partner donors like PSF have donated 112 School-in-a-Bag
units to various schools nationwide, benefitting over 30,000 students and 1,000 teachers.

Parañaque set to build
Entertainment City office

Technical Eligibility
2.1.

3.

The IPP must have completed a similar or related project costing at least 50% of
the cost of the JV Activity/Project within the last ten (10) years. For the avoidance
of doubt, cost of the JV Activity/Project pertains to the present value of the amount
of contribution of TCWD and the Original Proponent using a discount rate. For
this project, the cost of the JV Activity/Project is equal to One Billion Four Hundred
Seventy-Six Million, Four Hundred Twelve Thousand, Three Hundred One Pesos
(PhP1,476,412,301.00).

Financial Eligibility

4.

3.1.

The IPP should have the capability to finance the completion of the entire project
evidenced by financial documents to be submitted and will form as an integral part
of the Financial Proposal.

3.2

A letter from a domestic universal/commercial bank, or an international bank with
a subsidiary/branch in the Philippines, or any international bank recognized by
the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), attesting that the IPP is one of its current
clients, and is in good financial standing.

Additional eligibility criteria are specified in the instructions to IPPs.
Only those lPP’s that are deemed eligible shall be entitled to submit Comparative Proposals,
which must be in accordance with instructions contained in the Request for Proposal Documents
(RFP Documents).
The JVSC shall evaluate the proposals using the Quality Based Evaluation/Selection (QBE/
QBS) procedure. The criteria and rating system for the evaluation of the proposals shall be
provided in the Instructions to Interested Private Proponent/s (IIPPs).
The following procedures, schedules and instructions shall be strictly observed:
SCHEDULE
(using Philippine
Standard Time)

ACTIVITY
1. Publication

February 21, 2019

2. Posting

February 21 to
February 28, 2019

3. Purchase of Eligibility
Documents for a nonrefundable fee of Five
Hundred ThousandPesos
(PhP 500,000.00)in cash
or Managers Check made
payable to Tagaytay City
Water District
4. Submission of Eligibility
Documents

WHEREAS, on 15 August 2017, the Commission approved the adoption
of Philippine Financial Reporting Standard (PFRS) No. 15, Revenue from
Contracts with Customers, effective for annual reporting periods beginning on
or after January 1, 2018, as part of its financial reporting rules.
WHEREAS, on 31 January 2018 and 27 June 2018, respectively, the PIC
issued the following guidance on some implementation issues affecting the real
estate industries brought about by the adoption of PFRS 15:
1. PIC Q&A 2018-12-H, Accounting for Common Usage Service Area
(CUSA) Charges. (Approved by Financial Reporting Standards Council
(FRSC) and Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) and Board of
Accountancy (BOA) on 14 February 2018 and 18 May 2018, respectively;
2. PIC Q&A 2018-14, Accounting For Cancellation of Real Estate Sales.
(Approved by FRSC on 10 October 2018. The pronouncement is still
pending for approval by the PRC and BOA).

February 21 to
March 4, 2019

The Eligibility Documents may be
purchased ONLY from TCWDJVSC at the Tagaytay City Water
District,Tagaytay-Amadeo
Road,
Barangay Kaybagal Central, Tagaytay
City, Cavite

JVSC will determine the completeness
of the eligibility documents based
on a pass or fail criteria. For those
IPPs with incomplete, irregular or
patently insufficient submission shall
be considered failed. For those IPPs
whose eligibility documents appear to
be complete shall be further evaluated
to determine its eligibility.

On or before
April 22,2019

JVSC will evaluate the eligibility
documents of the IPPs to determine if
they are eligible or ineligible.

6.

Determination of
Eligibility

7.

Purchase of Tender
Documents by IPPs
declared “eligible” for
non-refundable fee
of One Million Pesos
(PhP 1,000,000.00),
in cash or Managers
Check made payable
to Tagaytay City
Water District

April 22 to April 29,
2019

Tender
Documents
may
be
purchased ONLY from TCWD-JVSC
Secretariat at the Tagaytay City Water
District,Tagaytay-Amadeo
Road,
Barangay Kaybagal Central, Tagaytay
City, Cavite

8.

Pre-selection
conference will
thereafter be held.

July 29, 2019 ( 1:00
pm)

All Eligible IPPs are encouraged to
attend the conference to be held at the
Tagaytay City Water District, TagaytayAmadeo Road, Barangay Kaybagal
Central, Tagaytay City, Cavite

For any queries and/or clarifications, please address your communication in writing to the Chairperson
of TCWD-JVSC at the address indicated above or fax the same at (046)4131122 or email the same
to tagaytaywaterdistrict@hotmail
.com.
TCWD reserves the right to reject any or all submissions, waive any minor deviations, and award
the contract for the JV Project to the IPP whose financial proposal is the best among the qualified
interested private proponent/s whose technical proposals are complying.

WHEREAS, the real estate industry raised implementation issues and
requested to defer the implementation of the above pronouncements pending
the discussion and resolution by the PIC and FRSC of the said issues.
WHEREAS, upon further consultations and discussions with the real estate
industry, the Commission took note of the significant impact and difficulties
faced by the real estate industry in immediately implementing the guidance in
PIC Q&A Nos. 2018-12 (H) and 2018-14.
NOW, THEREFORE, the Commission en banc, in its meeting held on 07
February 2019, decided to provide relief to the real estate industry by deferring
the application of the provisions of the PIC Q&A Nos. 2018-12 (H) and 2018-14
for a period of three (3) years.
Effective January 01, 2021, real estate companies will adopt the subject
pronouncements and any subsequent amendments thereof retrospectively or
as the SEC will later prescribe.

(MS-FEB. 21, 2019)

THREE towers of commercial mixed-used buildings will be constructed this year within the Pagcor Entertainment City along
Coastal Road by a private developer in partnership with the city
government of Parañaque—one of which will serve as the city’s
government satellite office.
This was after the city government and Anchor Land Holding
Inc., which will finance and construct the complex as no cost to
the city, recently signed a public-private partnership for the P2.7billion Special Investment District buildings.
Construction of the building is expected to start in two years or
by mid-2021.
About 2,434 square meters of land will be devoted to the ninestory satellite office, which will have four floors with 4,884 square
meters of space for the city government and five floors with 6,785
square meters of space for lease, according to Parañaque City Mayor Edwin Olivarez.
Olivarez said the two other buildings will be leased for office and
bed-spacing use by ALHI, who shall return possession of the property
including all improvements to the city after a certain period.
“The Satellite City Hall is basically an office building and the project will be a new landmark in this part of the city,” the mayor said.
Under the agreement, the PPP project will have a period of 50
years, renewable for another 25 years’ at ALHI’s option.
“The project will bring value to the city’s property. It will create
jobs for city residents, who may be employed by the various businesses that will lease space at the commercial area,” the mayor
pointed out.
Olivarez said the satellite office would include the extension offices of the city’s business permit and licensing office (BPLO) as
well as the assessor’s office, where local and foreign investors can
process their city permits.

A real estate company may opt not to avail of any of the relief provided above
and instead comply in full with the requirements of PIC Q&A Nos. 2018-12 (H)
and 2018-14.
Moreover, real estate companies which opted for the deferral shall be required
to disclose in the Notes to the Financial Statements the accounting policies
applied, a discussion of the deferral of the subject implementation issues in the
PIC Q & A and a qualitative discussion of the impact in the financial statements
had the concerned application guideline in the PIC Q & A been adopted.
However, should any of the deferral options result into an accounting policy
change, such accounting change will have to be accounted for under Philippine
Accounting Standard (PAS) 8, Accounting Policies, Changes in Accounting
Estimates and Errors, i.e., retrospectively, together with the corresponding
required quantitative disclosures.
The above relief shall form part of the PFRS for the purpose of preparing and
filing general-purpose financial statements with the Commission.
The FRSC, PIC and real estate industry, through its various associations are
encouraged to have continuous dialogue to address any challenges in the
implementation of PIC Q&A Nos. 2018-12(H) and 2018-14 and for any new
developments in the implementation of PFRS 15 and its related PIC Q&As.
Issued this 08 February 2019 at Pasay City, Philippines.
For the Commission:

All proposals must be accompanied by a Proposal Security in the form as required by the government
entity which may be cash, certified check, manager’s check, letter of credit, or bank draft/guarantee
issued by a reputable local/foreign bank, or surety bond callable on demand issued by GSIS or an
entity duly registered and recognized by the office of the Insurance Commissioner, or a combination
thereof payable to the Government Agency concerned equivalent to 2% of the estimated participation
of the Original Proponent, amounting to Twenty Seven Million Six Hundred Forty Five Thousand Eight
Hundred Ninety Three Pesos (PhP 27,645,893.00).
TCWD assumes no responsibility whatsoever to compensate or indemnify any IPP for expenses
incurred in the preparation of the comparative proposals.

MAYOR Abigail Binay on Wednesday praised Ospital ng Makati officials after the city-run medical facility
met strict international standards on
frontline services and processes.
The hospital situated along Sampaguita Street in Barangay Pembo
earned the ISO 9001:2015 Certification for Quality Management System
after passing the audit conducted by
the certification body, International
Organization for Standardization.
“Congratulations to the management and personnel of Ospital ng
Makati for once again meeting the rigorous standards of the ISO. While we
may be a small, city-run hospital, our
processes and facilities are at par with
international standards,” said Binay.
She said the city government was
proud to share its latest achievement
with the city residents.
“My dear Makatizens, we are proud
to share this notable achievement with
all of you. Our very own hospital is an
internationally-certified health care
facility capable of delivering premium
quality medical services that you all
deserve,” the mayor declared.
Binay noted that Osmak is living up
to the vision of her father, former Vice
President Jejomar Binay.
In 1988, then-Mayor Jojo Binay sought
to improve the delivery of public health
service to Makati residents. He wanted
a premier medical facility that had high
standards of service and professionalism
comparable to private hospitals. More
importantly, Makati city residents would
receive medical treatment for free.
“More than 20 years after OsMak was
established, we are harvesting the fruits of
our continued hard work and dedication
to serve our constituents. We continue to
improve the delivery of health care services, procure more modern equipment,
add more specialized services and train
more doctors so we can treat more patients
every day,” Abby Binay stressed.
OsMak medical director Dr. Vergel
Binay said the 2019 audit was conducted from Feb. 5 to 8 and covered
several areas, including patient admissions from the ER up to discharge of
in-patient customers.
He added that Laboratory and Radiology services were also evaluated, as
well as dispensing of medicine for the
in-house pharmacy and the consultation process for out-patient at the Ambulatory Care Medicine Department.

EMILIO B. AQUINO
Chairperson
(MS-FEB. 21, 2019)

BRIEFING. Aklan Rep. Teodorico ‘Nonong’ Haresco explains a point
to the media on Tuesday as he discusses the government’s plans for
infrastructure, education, health and livelihood for his constituents
and the Western Visayas region in a press conference in Quezon City.
Andrew Rabulan
CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK

CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK
Manila

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 2019

Standard

TODAY
accountability, empowering stakeholders to make informed decisions and
helps the company manage its EESG impacts.
Globally Recognized Standards/Frameworks in Reporting Sustainability

SEC MEMORANDUM CIRCULAR NO. 4
Series of 2019
TO

:

SUBJECT

:

PUBLICLY-LISTED COMPANIES

SUSTAINABILITY REPORTING GUIDELINES FOR
PUBLICLY-LISTED COMPANIES
_________________________________________________________
To promote sustainability reporting and make it relevant for Philippine
publicly-listed companies (PLCs), the Commission, in its en banc meeting on
12 February 2019, resolved to issue the Sustainability Reporting Guidelines
for Publicly-Listed Companies attached to this Memorandum Circular.
The Guidelines is intended to help PLCs assess and manage nonfinancial performance across Economic, Environmental and Social aspects
of their organization and enable PLCs to measure and monitor their
contributions towards achieving universal targets of sustainability, such as
the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, as well as national
policies and programs, such as AmBisyon Natin 2040,
Submission with SEC Form 17-A
The reporting template (Annex A of the Guidelines) shall be submitted
together with the company’s Annual Report (SEC Form 17-A).
The first report shall be attached to the 2019 Annual Report to be
submitted in 2020.
For companies who already have sustainability reports in accordance
with internationally recognized frameworks and standards, their reports
shall already be considered as their compliance with the reporting template.
Companies may choose to attach the whole sustainability report to their
Annual Report or just include a statement providing a link to said report.
Comply or Explain Approach
The Guidelines shall be adopted on a “comply or explain” approach for
the first three years upon implementation. By “comply or explain”, it means
that companies would be required to attach the template to their Annual
Reports but they can provide explanations for items where they still have no
available data on.

This Guidelines provides a Sustainability Reporting Framework for Philippine
PLCs that builds upon four of the globally accepted frameworks, which
companies use to report on sustainability and non-financial information the Global Reporting Initiative’s (GRI) Sustainability Reporting Standards,
the International Integrated Reporting Council’s (IIRC) Integrated Reporting
(IR) Framework, the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board’s (SASB)
Sustainability Accounting Standards, and the recommendations of the Task
Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosure (TCFD).5
The GRI Standards has a comprehensive reporting requirement covering
governance, economic, environmental, and social topics. It is also aligned
with international standards and normative frameworks such as the United
Nations Global Compact (UNGC) and the International Labour Organization
(ILO) Tripartite Declaration.
The <IR> Framework defines six capitals, seven guiding principles, and
eight content elements of an integrated report but does not specify topic
disclosures and measurement methods. It aims to monitor how the capitals
are used and created by the business model and discloses the companies’
strategies in light of risks and outlook.
The SASB Standards provides industry-based sustainability standards for
more than 77 specific industries. It has five general sustainability themes
including environment, social capital, human capital, business model and
innovation, and leadership and governance. To address sustainability issues, a
minimum set of topics for consideration in each industry are also provided, together with
quantitative and comparable accounting metrics.6

The TCFD – a private-sector task force created by the Financial Stability
Board – issued its final recommendations on climate- related financial
disclosure inJune 2017, focusingonclimate-relatedrisks, opportunities,and
financial impacts, as well as scenario analysis.7 The Task Force’s recommendations

The table below distinguishes the reporting standards/frameworks and compares the
guiding principles for defining report content and sustainability topics covered in each
standard/framework. More information can be found in the full guidance documents for
these reporting standards/frameworks that can be access via their websites.
Reporting Standards/Frameworks

Coverage

GRI
G e n e r a l • Economic
Sustainability
Topics
• Environmental

Penalty for Non-attachment of the Sustainability Report to the Annual
Report

IR Framework
Six Capitals:
• Manufactured
capital

• Social

• Financial capital

• Governance

• Intellectual
capital
• Human capital

Non-attachment of the Sustainability Report to the Annual Report shall
be subject to the penalty for Incomplete Annual Report provided under SEC
Memorandum Circular No. 6, Series of 2005 (Consolidated Scale of Fines).

• Social and
relationship
capital

This Memorandum Circular shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its
publication in two (2) newspapers of general circulation.

In recent years, increased focus has been placed on companies to provide
greater disclosure and transparency not only on financial matters but on nonfinancial and sustainability issues, as well. Companies’ stakeholders now
give greater attention to how businesses impact the economy, environment
and society and the way corporations respond to sustainability challenges,
in addition to financial challenges, determines their long-term viability and
competitiveness.

Consequently, Sustainability Reporting has emerged as a common practice
for companies globally. In fact, 93% of the world’s largest 250 companies
and 75% of the top 100 companies in 49 countries report on sustainability.1
However, for the Philippines, less than 22% of publicly-listed companies
have published a report on sustainability impacts and performances.2

Help PLCs to identify, evaluate and manage their material Economic,
Environmental and Social (EES) risks and opportunities

•

Help PLCs to assess and improvetheir non-financial performance
across EES aspects of their organization to optimize business
operations, improve competitiveness, and long-term success

•

Provide a mechanism that would allow PLCs to communicate with its
stakeholders, including investors or its potential investors

•

Enable PLCs to measure and monitor its contributions towards
achieving universal targets of sustainability, such as the United
Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDG), as well as
national policies and programs, such as AmBisyon Natin 2040

The Guidelines recognizes that sustainability reporting is a journey and
that the PLCs would be at different levels in this journey; while some may
already be advanced, most are just beginning. As such, this Guidelines may
be seen as an introductory tool for those companies who are just starting
on their journey. Please note that companies are not required to disclose on
all topics provided in the Reporting Template (Annex A of the Guidelines).
Rather, disclosure should only be on topics determined by companies as
material after an assessment of materiality, which is discussed in more
detail in the Materiality Assessment section. Nevertheless, companies
are encouraged to move at any time beyond and disclose more information
than that required under this Guidelines, especially other initiatives which
the company considers as contributing to the UNSDG. For other companies
already reporting in accordance with internationally recognized sustainability
frameworks or standards, their sustainability reports shall be considered
as their compliance. However, they are encouraged to use this as a guide,
particularly for climate-related disclosures.
SUSTAINABILITY AND SUSTAINABILITY REPORTING
Sustainability is defined as “development that meets the needs of the present
without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own
needs”.3 It focuses on how a company manages its economic, environmental
and social impacts, risks and opportunities. Disclosure on these nonfinancial matters are done through sustainability reporting (also known
as EESG (economic, environmental, social and governance) reporting,
non-financial reporting, or triple bottom line accounting), which is a central
element of modern corporate reporting that includes strategy, governance
and performance.
Sustainability reporting is an organization’s practice of reporting publicly on
its significant economic, environmental and/or social impacts, in accordance
with globally accepted standards. Such disclosures enable organizations to
measure, understand and communicate their EESG performance and then
set goals, and manage change more effectively.4 Often, they go hand in hand
with the setting of performance targets related to EESG impacts.
Sustainability reporting also benefits stakeholders interested in an
organization’s ability to create value over time, including employees,
customers, suppliers, investors, business partners, local communities,
legislators, regulators, and policy makers. This promotes transparency and

3. Stakeholder engagement
The process of sustainability reporting provides companies with
opportunities for stronger engagement with their stakeholders, which in
turn can result in better relationships with them. Stakeholders would feel
empowered while the companies can gain valuable insights beneficial to
their sustainability journey.
4. Competitive advantage
Awareness on sustainability reporting is still quite low for most Philippine
companies. As such, having a sustainability report may provide
companies with a competitive advantage. This competitive advantage
may be in any of the abovementioned internal and external benefits.
Sustainability Reporting Principles
The Reporting Principles for defining report quality guide choices on ensuring
the quality of information in a sustainability report, including its proper
presentation. The quality of information is important for enabling stakeholders
to make sound and reasonable assessments of an organization, and to take
appropriate actions. For more information read GRI 101: Foundation.
1. Materiality
An organization is faced with a wide range of topics on which it can
report. Relevant topics, which potentially merit inclusion in the report,
are those that can reasonably be considered important for reflecting
the organization’s economic, environmental, and social impacts, or
influencing the decisions of stakeholders. In this context, ‘impact’ refers
to the effect an organization has on the economy, the environment,
and/or society (positive or negative). A topic can be relevant – and so
potentially material – based on only one of these dimensions.
For purposes of this Guidelines, and as defined in the
GRI Standards, ‘impact’ shall refer to the effect an organization
has on the economy, the environment, and/or society, which
in turn can indicate its contribution (positive or negative) to
sustainable development. Reporting organizations are also
expected to report on their impacts that are directly linked
to their activities, products, or services through a business
relationship. It should be noted that ‘impact” does not refer
to an effect upon an organization, such as a change to its
reputation.

•

be specific and
complete

•

• Relevant
across an
industry

be clear,
balanced, and
understandable

•

be consistent
over time

• Actionable by
companies

•

be comparable
among
companies
within a sector,
industry, or
portfolio

• Reflective of
stakeholder
consensus
•

be reliable,
verifiable, and
objective

•

be provided on
a timely basis

Reporting must have no bias in the selection or presentation of
information. The reported information shall reflect positive and negative
aspects of the reporting organization’s performance to enable a reasoned
assessment of overall performance. Reporting may also be compared
against previously reported targets, projections, and expectations.
4. Completeness
The reporting organization should consider the extent of information
disclosed and its level of specificity or preciseness, which might involve
considering potential concerns regarding cost/benefit, competitive
advantage, and future-oriented information.
5. Reliability
The reporting organization should gather, record, compile, analyze, and
report information and processes used in the preparation of the report
(similar to maintaining an audit trail) in a way that they can be subjected
to examination, and that establishes the quality and materiality of the
information.

• Applicable

6. Accuracy

• Comparable

The reported information should be sufficiently accurate and detailed
for stakeholders to assess the reporting organization’s performance.
Reports should include proper citation of information sources, including
estimated data and methodology for estimation.

• Complete
• Verifiable
• Aligned
• Neutral

7. Consistency and Comparability

• Distributive
Materiality

Make sustainability reporting relevant and value adding for Philippine
PLCs

•

Disclosures should:
•
represent
relevant
information

• Useful

“The board should have a clear and focused policy
on the disclosure of non-financial information,
with emphasis on the management of economic,
environmental, social and governance (EESG)
issues of its business, which underpin sustainability.
Companies should adopt a globally recognized
standard/framework in reporting sustainability and
non-financial issues.”
To further increase awareness among Philippine PLCs on sustainability
reporting, the SEC is releasing this Guidelines on Sustainability Reporting.
This Guidelines is crafted with the following objectives:

For topic
selection:
• Financial
materiality,
based on (i)
potential to
affect corporate
value or (ii)
interest of
investors

For accounting
metrics:
• Fair
representation

• Reliability

Institutional investors are now looking at the ESG practices of companies
and makes this a key element in their investment analysis and
decisions. In the CFA Institute Survey conductedin 2017, 73% of the
survey respondents answered that they take into account ESG issues
in their investment analysis and decisions.9 Sustainability reporting,
thus, provides institutional investors easy access to ESG information
of companies. At the same time, it allows companies to discuss their
sustainability performance in a clear and concise manner.

3. Balance

• Comparability

The need to promote sustainability reporting to Philippine companies served
as the impetus for the SEC to include Principle 10 in the Code of Corporate
Governance for Publicly-Listed Companies (PLCs) stating that companies
should ensure that material and reportable non-financial and sustainability
issues are disclosed. Recommendation 10.1 of the same Code further
provides as follow:

2. Investor attractiveness

The reporting organization should provide insight into the nature and
quality of the organization’s relationships with its key stakeholders,
including how and to what extent the organization understands, takes
into account and responds to their legitimate needs and interests.
Stakeholders provide useful insights about matters that are important
to them, including economic, environmental and social issues that also
affect the ability of the organization to create value.

• Risks and
opportunities

Sustainability Reporting Guidelines for
Publicly Listed Companies

full transparency and accurate and complete reporting on both positive
and negative news. Moreover, it shows the companies’ efforts towards
sustainability. This improves the company’s image and builds trust and
respect for the company. Thereby, improving company reputation and
brand value.

2. Stakeholder Inclusiveness

• Governance

EMILIO B. AQUINO
Chairperson

C1

“Material aspects”
are those that
reflect the
organization’s
significant
economic,
environmental and
social impacts; or
that substantively
influence the
assessments
and decisions of
stakeholders

A matter is
material if it could
substantively affect
the organization’s
ability to create
value in the short,
medium, or long
term

Financially
material
issues that are
reasonable likely
to impact the
financial condition
or operating
performance
of the typical
company within
an industry and
therefore are
most important to
investors

Public companies’ legal
obligation to disclose
material information in
their financial filings—
including material
climate-related
information

The information in the report should be presented on a basis that is
consistent over time and in a way that enables analysis of any changes
in the organization’s performance over time. It must also be presented in
a way that enables comparison withother organizations to the extent it is
material to the organization’s own ability to create value over time.
SUSTAINABILITY REPORTING FRAMEWORK FOR PHILIPPINE PLCS
The over-all sustainability reporting framework for Philippine PLCs follows
this structure:

These standards and frameworks can complement each other and can be used
in a single document. For example, a report can be published which uses the <IR>
framework and discloses information in accordance with the GRI Standards.
In addition to these four frameworks, the International Finance Corporation, the
private sector arm of the World Bank Group, has developed a Toolkit for Disclosure
and Transparency with guidance for companies in emerging markets. This toolkit
aims to help companies begin the process of sustainability reporting and move toward
integrated reporting, with guidance on how to development disclosure over time

With this framework in mind, this sustainability reporting guidelines is crafted
for PLCs operating in the Philippines with a goal of making sustainability
reporting relevant and value-adding for companies. The Guidelines focuses
on economic, environmental and social disclosures since governance
disclosures are made in the Integrated Annual Corporate Governance
Report (I-ACGR) submitted separately to SEC.

1.

Effective management of sustainability risks and opportunities
The process involved in sustainability reporting allows companies to know
and better understand their sustainability risks and opportunities. This would in
turn result to a more effective assessment and management of said risks and
opportunities.

2.

Sustainable Vision, Strategy and Business Plans
Sustainability reporting encourages companies to assess, and if necessary to
update, their visions, strategies and business plans to ensure that sustainability is
embedded in their organizations. It gives companies the opportunity to determine
the necessary changes in their vision, strategies and performance goals/targets for
more sustainable operations.

3.

Improved management systems
Sustainability reporting involves tracking and gathering data which when evaluated
can identify the areas that need improvement. In addition, public reporting on
performance motivates companies to improve in succeeding reporting periods,
thus, resulting to improvement in management systems, such as streamlining
of processes, reduction of costs and over-all improvement in efficiency and
productivity.

4.

Motivated workforce
Creating a sustainability report requires a concerted effort from companies’
employees, exposing them to the companies’ commitment to sustainability.
Research have shown that there is a significant positive relationship between
perceived environmental performance and employee satisfaction.8 Knowing that
the company is environmentally and socially conscious increases morale and
motivates the workforce to work hard for the company.

External Benefits
1.

Improved company reputation and brand value

Having a sustainability report indicates the companies’ commitment to

Beyond the purpose of transparency, it is designed to help PLCs assess
their non-financial performance across environment, economic, and social
aspects of their organization to optimize business operations, improve
competitiveness, and long-term success. Disclosures contained in this
guidelines are those that contribute to describing and measuring the
company’s sustainability performance. Broadly, sustainability performance
is measured in the way the corporation conducts its business, and how it
manages its key economic, environmental and social impacts. It builds on
the principles and metrics provided by the GRI Standards, SASB Standards,
TCFD Recommendationand other internationally accepted standards for
non-financial reporting.
The terms economic, environmental and social are defined as follows:10
Economic

Environmental

Social

An organization’s impact
on the economic conditions
of its stakeholders and on
economic systems at local,
national and global levels.
It does not focus only on
the financial condition of
the organization.

An
organization’s
impact on living and
non-living
natural
systems,
including
land, air, water and
ecosystems.

An
organization’s
internal and external
impact/s on the social
systems within which it
operates.

Disclosure Topics
Disclosures should reflect the organization’s significant economic,
environmental, and social impacts and should consider the reasonable
expectations and interests of key stakeholders. Disclosures should
also address the organization’s climate-related risks and opportunities
(climate-related issues). Whenever applicable, these disclosures should
be quantifiable and measurable, effectively providing a snapshot of an
organization’s non-financial performance for the reporting period. The quality
and content of the disclosures should also be aligned with widely recognized
reporting principles.
The Disclosures shall be made using the Annex A: Reporting Template.

CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK

CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK

C2

Again, for companies already reporting in accordance with internationally
recognized sustainability frameworks or standards, their sustainability
reports shall be considered as their compliance.
For additional guidance on the disclosure topics, you may refer to Annex B:
Topic Guide.
1.

Manila

Standard

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 2019

Economic

TODAY

Suggested Materiality Assessment Process

f.

In general, a disclosure is considered material if it reflects the significant
economic, environmental, and social impacts of the organization of
the stakeholders, and the capacity of the stakeholders to influence
the economic, environmental and social impacts or activities of the
organization. Please see below the suggested materiality assessment
process adopted from the Bursa Malaysia Sustainability Reporting Guide:

Economic disclosures relate to how the company directly increases the
pool of economic resources that flows in the local and national economy.
Included in the disclosures are the risks and opportunities due to climate
change, procurement practices with respect to local suppliers and anticorruption.

Investments to community (e.g.
donations, CSR)

PhP

What is the impact and
Which
where does it occur?
stakeholders are
What is the organization’s affected?
involvement in the
impact?

Management
Approach

Identify the impact and
where it occurs (i.e., primary
business operations and/or
supply chain)

What policies,
commitments,
goals and targets,
responsibilities,
resources, grievance
mechanisms, and/or
projects, programs,
and initiatives do you
have to manage the
material topic?
Management
Approach

(e.g. employees,
community,
suppliers,
government,
vulnerable groups)

Indicate involvement in the
impact (i.e., caused by the
organization or linked to
impacts through its business
relationship)
What are the Risk/s
Identified?

Which
stakeholders are
affected?

Identify risk/s related
to material topic of the
organization
What are the Opportunity/ Which
ies Identified?
stakeholders are
affected?
Identify the opportunity/ies
related to material topic of
the organization
Climate-related risks and opportunities15

Management Approach

2.

Environment
Environmental disclosures relate to how the company manages the
natural resources it needs for its business, as well as how it minimizes
its negative impacts to the environment, including biodiversity. The
company’s ability to access materials needed for its operations is critical
to company’s long-term success.

Disclosures should also be accompanied by a management approach
which describes the management of material sustainability issues.
This includes explaining how the organization (1) avoids, mitigates, or
remediates negative impacts to the economy, environment, and society,
and enhances positive ones, and (2) addresses its climate-related issues.
The management approach also includes an assessment of material risks
and opportunities associated with sustainability, management and oversight
of such opportunities and risks at the highest level of the organization
and performance assessment, using key performance indicators. These
approaches can be in the form of organization policies, commitments, goals
and targets, responsibilities, resources, grievance mechanisms as well
as processes, projects, programs, and initiatives. See GRI 103 for more
guidance on the management approach.
Reporting organization should report on the management approach for each
material issue with the following information:
a. An explanation on the materiality of the topic;
b. The boundary for the material topic, which includes a description of
where the impacts occur, and the organization’s involvement with the
impacts.
c. An explanation of how the organization manages the topic and the
objectives.
Management Approach Components

Social
Disclosures on social topics relate to how the organization manages its relationship
with its stakeholders such as employees, customers, suppliers, communities, the
public and the government. It includes disclosures on issues related to human
rights, access to and quality of products and services, responsible business
practices in marketing, customer privacy and data security.

When reporting on the management approach for a material topic, the
reporting organization should ideally include a description of the following
components, when applicable:
i.

Management
Approach

Policies
Summary or link to the publicly available policies relevant to the
topic.

ii. Commitments
Intent of the organization to manage the impacts related to the
topic (e.g., for regulatory compliance, compliance with international
standards).
iii. Goals and targets
Highlights of the following: (i) baseline and context; (ii) expected
result (quantitative or qualitative); and (iii) expected timeline for
achieving each goal and target.

Governance
Disclose the
organization’s
governance around
climate-related risks
and opportunities

Strategy
Disclose the actual
and potential
impacts2 of climaterelated risks and
opportunities on
the organization’s
businesses,
strategy, and
financial planning
where such
information is
material
Recommended Disclosures
a) Describe
a) Describe the
the board’s
climate-related
oversight of
risks and
climate-related
opportunities
risks and
the organization
opportunities
has identified
over the short,
medium and long
term
b) Describe
management’s
role in
assessing
and managing
climate-related
risks and
opportunities

a)
Disclose
the metrics used
by the organization
to assess climaterelated risks and
opportunities
in line with its
strategy and risk
management
process
b)
Describe
the targets used by
the organization to
manage climaterelated risks and
opportunities
and performance
against targets

b) Describe the
b) Describe the
impact of climate- organization’s
related risks and
processes for
opportunities on
managing climatethe organization’s related risks
businesses,
strategy and
financial
planning.
c) Describe the
c) Describe how
resilience of the
processes for
organization`s
identifying,
strategy, taking
assessing, and
into consideration managing climatedifferent climaterelated risks are
related scenarios
integrated into
including a 2°C
the organization’s
or lower scenario
overall risk
management

Procurement Practices
Proportion of spending on local suppliers
Disclosure
Percentage of procurement budget used for significant
locations of operations that is spent on local suppliers

Quantity

What is the impact and where does
it occur? What is the organization’s
involvement in the impact?
Identify the impact and where it occurs
(i.e., primary business operations and/
or supply chain)
Indicate involvement in the impact
(i.e., caused by the organization or
linked to impacts through its business
relationship)

Which stakeholders
are affected?

Management
Approach

(e.g. employees,
community, suppliers,
government, vulnerable
groups)

What are the Risk/s Identified?

Which stakeholders
are affected?

What policies,
commitments,
goals and targets,
responsibilities,
resources,
grievance
mechanisms,
and/or projects,
programs, and
initiatives do you
have to manage
the material topic?
Management
Approach

Which stakeholders
are affected?

Management
Approach

iv. Responsibilities
Assigned responsibility for managing the topic and whether the
responsibility is linked to performance assessments or incentive
mechanisms.
v. Resources
4.

Sustainable Development Goals
The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are a
universal call to action, to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure that
all people enjoy peace and prosperity and includes seventeen (17) goals
seen below. Disclosure would be required on how companies are able to
contribute to the SDGs through their products and services.

Financial, human, or technological resources allocated for managing
the topic.

Highlights of the following: (i) purpose of the mechanism; (ii) activities
covered by the mechanism; (iii) how the mechanism is managed; (iv)
process to address and resolve grievances, including how decisions
are made; and (v) effectiveness criteria used.

May include actions that aim to avoid, mitigate, or remediate the
negative impacts relative to chosen topic; and whether actions take
international norms/standards into account.
Annex A: Reporting Template
(For additional guidance on how to answer the Topics, organizations may
refer to Annex B: Topic Guide)

In sustainability reporting, materiality is the principle that determines which
relevant topics are sufficiently important that it is essential to report on them.
The global standards/frameworks for reporting sustainability presented in
the introduction (GRI, SASB, IIRC and TCFD) propose different but related
definitions of materiality, which focus on the following elements:
 Significant economic, environmental, and social impacts of the
organization
 Information that substantively influence the assessments and
decisions of stakeholders, including investors
 Matters that substantively affect the organization’s ability to create
value over the short, medium and long term
A topic may be considered material if it falls into any of the following:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

It is a KEY CAPITAL/ RISK/ OPPORTUNITY that impacts value creation
Your KEY BUSINESS ACTIVITIES impact the topic
Your SUBSIDIARIES/ CONTRACTORS/ SUPPLY CHAIN contribute
significant impacts to this topic
Your PRODUCTS/ SERVICES contribute impacts to this topic
There is a TREND that points to a future where this topic will become
material to you

Contextual Information
Company Details
Name of Organization
Location of Headquarters
Location of Operations
Report Boundary: Legal entities (e.g.
subsidiaries) included in this report*
Business Model, including Primary
Activities, Brands, Products, and
Services
Reporting Period
Highest Ranking Person responsible
for this report

Dividends given to stockholders
and interest payments to loan
providers
Taxes given to government

PhP

e.
For guidance on possible material topics for your sector/industry, you may
refer to the SASB Materiality Map at https://materiality.sasb.org/.

CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK

Quantity

Units
%
%
%
%

What is the impact and where does
it occur? What is the organization’s
involvement in the impact?
Identify the impact and where it occurs
(i.e., primary business operations and/
or supply chain)
Indicate involvement in the impact
(i.e., caused by the organization or
linked to impacts through its business
relationship)

*If you are a holding company, you could have an option whether to report on the holding company only or include the
subsidiaries. However, please consider the principle of materiality when defining your report boundary.

Disclosure

Disclosure
Percentage of employees to whom the organization’s
anti-corruption policies and procedures have been
communicated to
Percentage of business partners to whom the
organization’s anti-corruption policies and procedures
have been communicated to
Percentage of directors and management that have
received anti-corruption training
Percentage of employees that have received anticorruption training

Identify risk/s related to material topic
of the organization
What are the Opportunity/ies
Which stakeholders are
Identified?
affected?
Identify the opportunity/ies related to
material topic of the organization

The assessment of materiality associated with sustainability issues
should take into account their influence on the stakeholders assessments
and decisions and the significance of the company’s economic, social
and environmental impacts. This can be analyzed and reported using a
materiality matrix (shown below) that ranks the importance of sustainability
issues based on the impact on the company and its stakeholders.
Materiality Matrix for Sustainability Issues (Illustrative)

Identify risk/s related to material topic
of the organization
What are the Opportunity/ies
Identified?
Identify the opportunity/ies related to
material topic of the organization

Anti-corruption
Training on Anti-corruption Policies and Procedures

vi. Grievance mechanisms

vii. Specific actions, such as processes, projects, programs and
initiatives

Materiality Assessment

Units
%

PhP

Disclosure
Quantity
Number of incidents in which directors were removed or
disciplined for corruption
Number of incidents in which employees were dismissed
or disciplined for corruption
Number of incidents when contracts with business
partners were terminated due to incidents of corruption

Units
#
#
#

What is the impact and where
does it occur? What is the
organization’s involvement in
the impact?
Identify the impact and where
it occurs (i.e., primary business
operations and/or supply chain)
Indicate involvement in the impact
(i.e., caused by the organization
or linked to impacts through its
business relationship)

Which stakeholders
are affected?

Management
Approach

(e.g. employees,
community, suppliers,
government, vulnerable
groups)

What are the Risk/s Identified?

Which stakeholders
are affected?

What policies,
commitments, goals and
targets, responsibilities,
resources, grievance
mechanisms, and/or
projects, programs, and
initiatives do you have
to manage the material
topic?
Management
Approach

Identify risk/s related to material
topic of the organization
What are the Opportunity/ies
Which stakeholders
Identified?
are affected?
Identify the opportunity/ies related
to material topic of the organization

What is the impact and where
does it occur? What is the
organization’s involvement in
the impact?
Identify the impact and where
it occurs (i.e., primary business
operations and/or supply chain)
Indicate involvement in the
impact (i.e., caused by the
organization or linked to
impacts through its business
relationship)

Which
stakeholders are
affected?

Management
Approach

(e.g. employees,
community,
suppliers,
government,
vulnerable groups)

What are the Risk/s
Identified?

Which
stakeholders are
affected?

What policies,
commitments,
goals and targets,
responsibilities,
resources, grievance
mechanisms, and/or
projects, programs,
and initiatives do you
have to manage the
material topic?
Management
Approach

Management
Approach

Water consumption within the organization
Disclosure
Quantity
Water withdrawal
Water consumption
Water recycled and reused

What are the Risk/s Identified?
Identify risk/s related to material
topic of the organization
What are the Opportunity/ies
Identified?

What policies,
commitments,
goals and targets,
responsibilities,
resources, grievance
mechanisms, and/or
projects, programs,
and initiatives do you
have to manage the
material topic?
Which
Management
stakeholders Approach
are affected?
Which
Management
stakeholders Approach
are affected?

Identify the opportunity/ies related to
material topic of the organization
Materials used by the organization
Disclosure
Quantity
Materials used by weight or volume
•
renewable
•
non-renewable
Percentage of recycled input materials used to
manufacture the organization’s primary products
and services
What is the impact and where
does it occur? What is the
organization’s involvement in
the impact?
Identify the impact and where
it occurs (i.e., primary business
operations and/or supply chain)
Indicate involvement in the impact
(i.e., caused by the organization
or linked to impacts through its
business relationship)

What are the Risk/s Identified?
Identify risk/s related to material
topic of the organization
What are the Opportunity/ies
Identified?

What policies,
commitments,
goals and targets,
responsibilities,
resources,
grievance
mechanisms,
and/or projects,
programs, and
initiatives do you
have to manage the
material topic?
Which
Management
stakeholders are Approach
affected?
Which
Management
stakeholders are Approach
affected?

Identify the opportunity/ies
related to material topic of the
organization
Ecosystems and biodiversity (whether in upland/watershed or coastal/
marine)
Disclosure
Quantity
Units
Operational sites owned, leased, managed in, (identify all sites)
or adjacent to, protected areas and areas of
high biodiversity value outside protected areas
Habitats protected or restored
ha
IUCN3 Red List species and national
(list)
conservation list species with habitats in areas
affected by operations
What is the impact and
where does it occur?
What is the organization’s
involvement in the impact?
Identify the impact and where
it occurs (i.e., primary business
operations and/or supply
chain)
Indicate involvement in the
impact (i.e., caused by the
organization or linked to
impacts through its business
relationship)

Which
stakeholders are
affected?

Management
Approach

(e.g. employees,
community,
suppliers,
government,
vulnerable groups)

What are the Risk/s
Identified?

Which
stakeholders are
affected?

What policies,
commitments,
goals and targets,
responsibilities,
resources, grievance
mechanisms, and/or
projects, programs,
and initiatives do you
have to manage the
material topic?
Management
Approach

Identify risk/s related
to material topic of the
organization
What are the Opportunity/ies Which
Identified?
stakeholders are
affected?
Identify the opportunity/ies
related to material topic of the
organization
Environmental impact management
Air Emissions GHG
Disclosure

What is the impact and where
does it occur? What is the
organization’s involvement in
the impact?
Identify the impact and where
it occurs (i.e., primary business
operations and/or supply chain)
Indicate involvement in the
impact (i.e., caused by the
organization or linked to
impacts through its business
relationship)

Which
stakeholders
are affected?

Management
Approach

(e.g. employees,
community,
suppliers,
government,
vulnerable
groups)

What are the Risk/s
Identified?

Which
stakeholders
are affected?

What policies,
commitments, goals and
targets, responsibilities,
resources, grievance
mechanisms, and/or
projects, programs, and
initiatives do you have
to manage the material
topic?
Management
Approach

Identify risk/s related
to material topic of the
organization
What are the Opportunity/ies Which
Identified?
stakeholders
are affected?
Identify the opportunity/ies
related to material topic of the
organization

Management
Approach

Management Approach

(e.g. employees,
community,
suppliers,
government,
vulnerable groups)

What are the Risk/s
Identified?

Which
stakeholders are
affected?

What policies,
commitments, goals and
targets, responsibilities,
resources, grievance
mechanisms, and/or
projects, programs, and
initiatives do you have
to manage the material
topic?
Management Approach

What are the Opportunity/ies Which
Identified?
stakeholders are
affected?
Identify the opportunity/ies
related to material topic of the
organization

Solid and Hazardous Wastes
Solid Waste
Disclosure
Total solid waste generated
Reusable
Recyclable
Composted
Incinerated
Residuals/Landfilled
What is the impact and
where does it occur?
What is the organization’s
involvement in the
impact?
Identify the impact
and where it occurs
(i.e., primary business
operations and/or supply
chain)
Indicate involvement in
the impact (i.e., caused by
the organization or linked
to impacts through its
business relationship)
What are the Risk/s
Identified?
Identify risk/s related
to material topic of the
organization
What are the Opportunity/
ies Identified?
Identify the opportunity/ies
related to material topic of
the organization

Management Approach

Quantity

What policies,
commitments,
goals and targets,
responsibilities,
resources, grievance
mechanisms, and/or
projects, programs, and
initiatives do you have
to manage the material
topic?
Which stakeholders Management
are affected?
Approach

Which stakeholders Management
are affected?
Approach

What are the Risk/s
Identified?

Quantity

Units
kg

Which stakeholders
are affected?

Management
Approach

(e.g. employees,
community, suppliers,
government, vulnerable
groups)

What policies,
commitments,
goals and targets,
responsibilities,
resources,
grievance
mechanisms,
and/or projects,
programs, and
initiatives do you
have to manage
the material topic?
Management
Approach

Effluents
Disclosure
Total volume of water discharges
Percent of wastewater recycled

Quantity

Management
Approach

Units
Cubic meters
%

Which
Management Approach
stakeholders are
affected?

(e.g. employees,
community,
suppliers,
government,
vulnerable groups)

What policies, commitments,
goals and targets,
responsibilities, resources,
grievance mechanisms, and/
or projects, programs, and
initiatives do you have to
manage the material topic?

Which
Management Approach
stakeholders are
affected?

Identify risk/s related
to material topic of the
organization
What are the
Which
Management Approach
Opportunity/ies
stakeholders are
Identified?
affected?
Identify the opportunity/
ies related to material
topic of the organization
Environmental compliance
Non-compliance with Environmental Laws and Regulations
Disclosure
Quantity
Total amount of monetary fines for non-compliance
with environmental laws and/or regulations
No. of non-monetary sanctions for non-compliance
with environmental laws and/or regulations
No. of cases resolved through dispute resolution
mechanism

What policies,
commitments,
goals and targets,
responsibilities,
resources, grievance
mechanisms, and/or
projects, programs,
and initiatives do you
have to manage the
material topic?
Which stakeholders Management
are affected?
Approach

Identify risk/s related
to material topic of the
organization
What are the Opportunity/ Which stakeholders Management
ies Identified?
are affected?
Approach
Identify the opportunity/ies
related to material topic of the
organization

NOx

Quantity

Units
kg

SOx
Persistent organic pollutants (POPs)

kg
kg

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs)

Employee Management
Employee Hiring and Benefits
Employee data
Disclosure
Total number of employees

What are the Risk/s Identified?
Identify risk/s related to material topic of the
organization
What are the Opportunity/ies Identified?
Identify the opportunity/ies related to material
topic of the organization
Employee Training and Development
Disclosure
Total training hours provided to employees
a. Female employees
b. Male employees
Average training hours provided to
employees
a. Female employees
b. Male employees

Identify risk/s related
to material topic of the
organization
What are the Opportunity/ Which stakeholders
ies Identified?
are affected?
Identify the opportunity/ies
related to material topic of the
organization

What are the Risk/s
Identified?

% of female
employees who
availed for the
year

What is the impact and where does it occur?
What is the organization’s involvement in the
impact?
Identify the impact and where it occurs (i.e.,
primary business operations and/or supply chain)
Indicate involvement in the impact (i.e., caused by
the organization or linked to impacts through its
business relationship)

kg

Which stakeholders
are affected?

What is the impact and
where does it occur?
What is the organization’s
involvement in the impact?
Identify the impact and
where it occurs (i.e., primary
business operations and/or
supply chain)
Indicate involvement in the
impact (i.e., caused by the
organization or linked to
impacts through its business
relationship)

Y/N

What is the impact and where does it occur?
What is the organization’s involvement in the
impact?
Identify the impact and where it occurs (i.e.,
primary business operations and/or supply chain)
Indicate involvement in the impact (i.e., caused
by the organization or linked to impacts through
its business relationship)

(e.g. employees,
community, suppliers,
government,
vulnerable groups)

What is the impact and
where does it occur?
What is the organization’s
involvement in the impact?
Identify the impact and
where it occurs (i.e., primary
business operations and/or
supply chain)
Indicate involvement in the
impact (i.e., caused by the
organization or linked to
impacts through its business
relationship)

What is the impact
and where does
it occur? What is
the organization’s
involvement in the
impact?
Identify the impact
and where it occurs
(i.e., primary business
operations and/or supply
chain)
Indicate involvement in
the impact (i.e., caused
by the organization or
linked to impacts through
its business relationship)
What are the Risk/s
Identified?

Identify risk/s related to material
topic of the organization
What are the Opportunity/ies Which
Identified?
stakeholders are
affected?
Identify the opportunity/ies
related to material topic of the
organization

What is the impact and where
does it occur? What is the
organization’s involvement in the
impact?
Identify the impact and where
it occurs (i.e., primary business
operations and/or supply chain)
Indicate involvement in the impact
(i.e., caused by the organization
or linked to impacts through its
business relationship)

What is the impact and where
does it occur? What is the
organization’s involvement in
the impact?
Identify the impact and where
it occurs (i.e., primary business
operations and/or supply chain)
Indicate involvement in the
impact (i.e., caused by the
organization or linked to
impacts through its business
relationship)

C3

Identify risk/s related to material topic of the
organization
What are the Opportunity/ies Identified?

Identify the opportunity/ies related to material topic
of the organization
Labor-Management Relations
Disclosure
% of employees covered with Collective Bargaining
Agreements
Number of consultations conducted with employees
concerning employee-related policies
What is the impact and where does
it occur? What is the organization’s
involvement in the impact?
Identify the impact and where it occurs
(i.e., primary business operations and/or
supply chain)
Indicate involvement in the impact (i.e.,
caused by the organization or linked to
impacts through its business relationship)

Quantity

Units
%
#

Management Approach
What policies, commitments,
goals and targets,
responsibilities, resources,
grievance mechanisms, and/
or projects, programs, and
initiatives do you have to
manage the material topic?
Management Approach

What are the Risk/s Identified?
Identify risk/s related to material topic of
the organization
What are the Opportunity/ies Identified? Management Approach
Identify the opportunity/ies related to
material topic of the organization
Diversity and Equal Opportunity
Disclosure
% of female workers in the workforce
% of male workers in the workforce
Number of employees from indigenous communities
and/or vulnerable sector*

Quantity

Units
%
%
#

*Vulnerable sector includes, elderly, persons with disabilities, vulnerable women, refugees, migrants,
internally displaced persons, people living with HIV and other diseases, solo parents, and the poor or
the base of the pyramid (BOP; Class D and E).

What is the impact and where does it occur?
What is the organization’s involvement in the
impact?
Identify the impact and where it occurs (i.e.,
primary business operations and/or supply
chain)
Indicate involvement in the impact (i.e., caused
by the organization or linked to impacts through
its business relationship)

What are the Risk/s Identified?
Identify risk/s related to material topic of the
organization
What are the Opportunity/ies Identified?
Identify the opportunity/ies related to material
topic of the organization

Workplace Conditions, Labor Standards, and Human Rights
Occupational Health and Safety
Disclosure
Quantity
Safe Man-Hours
No. of work-related injuries
No. of work-related fatalities
No. of work related ill-health
No. of safety drills
What is the impact and where does it occur?
What is the organization’s involvement in the
impact?
Identify the impact and where it occurs (i.e.,
primary business operations and/or supply
chain)
Indicate involvement in the impact (i.e., caused
by the organization or linked to impacts through
its business relationship)

What are the Risk/s Identified?
Identify risk/s related to material topic of the
organization
What are the Opportunity/ies Identified?
Identify the opportunity/ies related to material
topic of the organization

Human Rights
What is the impact and where does it occur? Management Approach
What is the organization’s involvement in
the impact?

CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK

CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK

C4

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 2019

Manila

Standard

TODAY

Identify the impact and where it occurs (i.e.,
primary business operations and/or supply
chain)
Indicate involvement in the impact (i.e., caused
by the organization or linked to impacts through
its business relationship)

What are the Risk/s Identified?
Identify risk/s related to material topic of the
organization
What are the Opportunity/ies Identified?

What policies,
commitments, goals and
targets, responsibilities,
resources, grievance
mechanisms, and/or
projects, programs, and
initiatives do you have
to manage the material
topic?
Management Approach

Management Approach

Identify the opportunity/ies related to material
topic of the organization
Supply Chain Management
Do you have a supplier accreditation policy? If yes, please attach the policy
or link to the policy:
_________________________
Do you consider the following sustainability topics when accrediting
suppliers?
Topic

Y/N

complaints that were lodged to and acted upon by government agencies.

What is the impact and where
does it occur? What is the
organization’s involvement in the
impact?

Management Approach

Identify the impact and where it occurs
(i.e., primary business operations and/
or supply chain)
Indicate involvement in the impact
(i.e., caused by the organization or
linked to impacts through its business
relationship)

What policies, commitments,
goals and targets, responsibilities,
resources, grievance mechanisms,
and/or projects, programs, and
initiatives do you have to manage
the material topic?

What are the Risk/s Identified?

Management Approach

Resource Management

Disclosure on activities that show how an organization protects, conserves,
or rehabilitates ecosystems and biodiversity therein such as in watersheds
and coastal and marine areas gives an idea of how that organization
appreciates the ecosystem and the services it gives that make business
thrive. Ecosystems and Biodiversity is vital to human existence. Companies
have the responsibility and clear business case for ensuring ecosystems and
biodiversity around its sites are protected and restored. See GRI 303,GRI
304and SASB Standards General Issue Category: Ecological Impactsfor
more guidance on the disclosures.

Identify risk/s related to material topic
of the organization
What are the Opportunity/ies
Identified?

Management Approach

Environmental Impact Management

If Yes, cite reference in the supplier policy

Customer privacy
Disclosure

Forced labor
Child labor
Human rights
Bribery and corruption

What is the impact and where does it occur?
What is the organization’s involvement in the
impact?
Identify the impact and where it occurs (i.e., primary
business operations and/or supply chain)
Indicate involvement in the impact (i.e., caused by
the organization or linked to impacts through its
business relationship)

What are the Risk/s Identified?
Identify risk/s related to material topic of the
organization
What are the Opportunity/ies Identified?

No. of customers, users and account holders whose
information is used for secondary purposes

#

*Substantiated complaints include complaints from customers that went through the organization’s formal communication
channels and grievance mechanisms as well as complaints that were lodged to and acted upon by government agencies.

What policies,
commitments,
goals and targets,
responsibilities,
resources, grievance
mechanisms, and/or
projects, programs,
and initiatives do you
have to manage the
material topic?
Management
Approach

What is the impact and where does it occur?
What is the organization’s involvement in the
impact?
Identify the impact and where it occurs (i.e.,
primary business operations and/or supply chain)
Indicate involvement in the impact (i.e., caused by
the organization or linked to impacts through its
business relationship)

Identify the opportunity/ies related to material topic
of the organization

Identify risk/s related to material topic of the
organization
What are the Opportunity/ies Identified?

Relationship with Community
Significant Impacts on Local Communities

Identify the opportunity/ies related to material topic
of the organization

Operations
Location Vulnerable
with
groups (if
significant
applicable)*
(positive or
negative)
impacts
on local
communities
(exclude CSR
projects;
this has to
be business
operations)

Does the
particular
operation
have
impacts on
indigenous
people (Y/N)?

Management
Approach

Collective
or
individual
rights that
have been
identified
that or
particular
concern
for the
community

What is the impact and where does it occur?
What is the organization’s involvement in the
impact?
Identify the impact and where it occurs (i.e., primary
business operations and/or supply chain)
Indicate involvement in the impact (i.e., caused by
the organization or linked to impacts through its
business relationship)

For operations that are affecting IPs, indicate the total number of Free and
Prior Informed Consent (FPIC) undergoing consultations and Certification
Preconditions (CPs) secured and still operational and provide a copy or link
to the certificates if available: _____________
Certificates
Quantity
Units
FPIC process is still undergoing
#
CP secured
#
What are the Risk/s Identified?
Management Approach
Identify risk/s related to material topic of the
organization
What are the Opportunity/ies Identified? Management Approach
Identify the opportunity/ies related to
material topic of the organization

Score

Customer satisfaction

Did a third party conduct the
customer satisfaction study
(Y/N)?

What is the impact and where does it occur?
What is the organization’s involvement in the
impact?
Identify the impact and where it occurs (i.e.,
primary business operations and/or supply chain)
Indicate involvement in the impact (i.e., caused by
the organization or linked to impacts through its
business relationship)

What are the Risk/s Identified?
Identify risk/s related to material topic of the
organization
What are the Opportunity/ies Identified?

Management
Approach

Identify the opportunity/ies related to material topic
of the organization
Health and Safety

Quantity Units
#
#

*Substantiated complaints include complaints from customers that went through the organization’s
formal communication channels and grievance mechanisms as well as complaints that were lodged
to and acted upon by government agencies.

What is the impact and where does it occur?
What is the organization’s involvement in the
impact?
Identify the impact and where it occurs (i.e.,
primary business operations and/or supply chain)
Indicate involvement in the impact (i.e., caused by
the organization or linked to impacts through its
business relationship)

What are the Risk/s Identified?
Identify risk/s related to material topic of the
organization
What are the Opportunity/ies Identified?

What policies,
commitments,
goals and targets,
responsibilities,
resources, grievance
mechanisms, and/or
projects, programs,
and initiatives do you
have to manage the
material topic?
Management
Approach

Identify the opportunity/ies related to material topic
of the organization

Disclosing on employee management indicates of how good an employer
the organization is in engaging its employees. It also provides a sense on
how the organization develops its employees and gives equal opportunity
for all, such as indigenous people and those coming from vulnerable groups
which include elderly, persons with disabilities, vulnerable women, refugees,
migrants, internally displaced persons, people living with HIV and other
diseases, solo parents, and the poor or the base of the pyramid (BOP; Class
D and E). See GRI 401, GRI 402, GRI 404, GRI 405, GRI 406, GRI 407, GRI
102-8, GRI 102-41andSASB Standards General Issue Categories: Labor
Practices; Employee, Engagement Diversity & Inclusion for more guidance
on the disclosures.
Workplace Conditions,Labor Standards and Human Rights
Disclosures on workplace conditions and labor standards show how an
organization gives importance to occupational health and safety and how it
upholds labor standards and human rights in the workplace. See GRI 403,
GRI 408, GRI 409,GRI 412andSASB Standards General Issue Category:
Employee Health & Safetyfor more guidance on the disclosures.
Supply Chain Management
Disclosures on supply chain management is most relevant for companies with
a significant portion of value creation carried out by suppliers. Organizations
can report on how the reporting company ensures that supplier upholds with
sustainability standards and practices including compliance to Philippine
laws. The reporting company may also disclose how it influences its
suppliers to be sustainable through supplier accreditation processes, among
other approaches. See GRI 308,GRI 414andSASB Standards General Issue
Category: Supply Chain Managementfor more guidance on the disclosures.
Relationship with Community

UNSUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS
Product or Service Contribution to UN SDGs
Key products and services and its contribution to sustainable development.
Value /
Key Products and Societal
Contribution to
Services
UN SDGs

Potential
Negative Impact
of Contribution

Management
Approach
to Negative
Impact

* None/Not Applicable is not an acceptable answer. For holding companies, the services
and products of its subsidiaries may be disclosed.

In line with the Disclosure Topic and Management Approach discussion
above, this Annex will provide a guide on what to disclose in the Topics
provided in the Reporting Template. The guide is based on the GRI
Standards, SASB Standards and Recommendations of the Task Force on
Climate-related Financial Disclosures.

These disclosures show how an organization meaningfully engages the
community around their sites and how it aims to create a net positive impact
to its host or neighbors. These also includes how the company contributes in
addressing issues of indigenous people and those coming from vulnerable
groups [youth, elderly, persons with disabilities, vulnerable women,
refugees, migrants, internally displaced persons, people living with HIV and
other diseases, solo parents, and the poor or the base of the pyramid (BOP;
Class D and E)] in its business operations. See GRI 411, GRI 412,GRI 413
and SASB Standards General Issue Category: Human Rights & Community
Relations for more guidance on the disclosures.
Customer Management
Disclosing on customer management shows how well an organization
upholds the rights of its customers to privacy, safety, and security from
probable negative impacts of its products and services. See GRI 416, GRI
417, GRI 418and SASB Standards General Issue Categories: Product
Quality & Safety; Customer Welfare; Selling Practices & Product Licensing
for more guidance on the disclosures.
Data Security
Reporting on the number of data breaches, including leaks, thefts and losses
of data shows how much importance an organization places on keeping data
secure. Organizations can indicate how they manage risks related to the
collection, retention and use of sensitive information. See SASB Standards
General Issue Category: Data Security for more guidance on the disclosure.

ECONOMIC
Economic disclosures relate to how the company directly increases the pool
of economic resources that flows in the local and national economy. Included
in the disclosures are the risks and opportunities due to climate change,
procurement practices with respect to local suppliers and anti-corruption.
Economic Performance

This disclosure answers the questions:
•
How much direct economic value (revenue) did you generate?
•
How much of this flowed back to society (costs disaggregated
according to stakeholders)?
•
How much of this was retained in the company for liquidity and to
fund future investments?

UN SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS
The SDG Compass can be used as guidance for companies on how they
can align their strategies as well as measure and manage their contribution
to the realization of the SDGs. The SDG Compass can be accessed at
https://sdgcompass.org/
Moreover, a recent publication with the title: Integrating the SDGs into
Corporate Reporting: A Practical Guide, helps companies of all sizes to
prioritize SDG targets to act and report on, set related business objectives,
and measure and report on progress. This is a co-production between GRI
and UN Global Compact (UNGC).
Companies may also use the following framework to determine which area
of sustainable development its company is contributing to improve people’s
quality of life.
For more information on how private sector can contribute to sustainable
development, companies may visit www.sdgsbiz.ph.

Disclosure of an organization’s climate-related issues helps stakeholders
make sound and reasonable assessments of the impact climate change
may have on the organization. Companies should disclose the climaterelated risks and opportunities they have identified and how they assess
and manage those issues.See GRI 201-2 and the Recommendations of the
Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures for more guidance on
the disclosure.
Procurement Practices
Disclosure on the proportion of spending on local suppliers show’s an
organization’s support for local groups, including those owned by women
or members of vulnerable sectors. Supporting local suppliers can indirectly
attract additional investments to the local economy. The disclosure describes
the policies and practices used to select locally-based suppliers and to
promote economic inclusion when selecting suppliers. See GRI 204 for more
guidance on disclosures

Units
#

Disclosures on training on anti-corruption policies and procedures show how
the company ensures that it has the necessary capability to fight against
corruption through proper training and awareness building for its directors,
management, employees and business partners. Disclosures on incidents
of corruption and how the company responded on the incidents show how
serious an organization is on combatting corruption. See GRI 205and SASB
Standards General Issue Category: Business Ethicsfor more guidance on
the disclosures.

#

ENVIRONMENT

*Substantiated complaints include complaints from customers that went through the
organization’s formal communication channels and grievance mechanisms as well as

CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK

Units
#

Anti-corruption

Management
Approach

Quantity

Employee Management

See GRI 201-1 for more guidance on the disclosure.

Management
Approach

Identify the opportunity/ies related to material topic
of the organization
Marketing and labelling
Disclosure
No. of substantiated complaints on marketing and
labelling*
No. of complaints addressed

Management
Approach

Measuring the direct economic value generated, measured as revenue and
distributed (costs) shows that an organization does not just create economic
value for itself but also ensures that this value flows back to its various
stakeholders such as stockholders, suppliers, employees, government, and
the community. This also discloses the remaining value that is retained in the
company for liquidity and for future investments. Figures for this disclosure
can be derived using the audited financial statement with the revenue as the
economic value generated for the reporting period.

Management
Approach

SOCIAL
Disclosures on social topics relate to how the organization relates and
manages its relationship with its stakeholders such as employees,
communities, customers, and suppliers.

Annex B: Topic Guide

What policies,
commitments,
goals and targets,
responsibilities,
resources, grievance
mechanisms, and/or
projects, programs,
and initiatives do you
have to manage the
material topic?
Management
Approach

Disclosure
No. of substantiated complaints on product or service
health and safety*
No. of complaints addressed

Identify risk/s related to material topic of the
organization
What are the Opportunity/ies Identified?

Disclosure on an organization’s compliance with environmental laws and/or
regulations shows an organization’s ability to conform to certain performance
parameters. The strength of an organization’s compliance indicates its
concern for environmental protection. See GRI 307andSASB Standards
General Issue Categories: Ecological Impacts; Air Quality; Water &
Wastewater Management; Waste and Hazardous Materials Managementfor
more guidance on the disclosures.

Management
Approach

Quantity

What are the Risk/s Identified?
*Vulnerable sector includes children and youth, elderly, persons with disabilities, vulnerable women,
refugees, migrants, internally displaced persons, people living with HIV and other diseases, solo
parents, and the poor or the base of the pyramid (BOP; Class D and E)

Reporting on an organization’s impact on air, soil, and water through
emissions, wastes, and effluents provides basis for companies to manage
these impacts. Responsible companies take an effort to minimize such
impacts through cleaner production and pollution prevention measures.
Companies should disclose on their performance on these topics including
how well the organization mitigates, reduces, and/or prevents these impacts
to the environment in compliance to Philippine Environmental Laws or on
efforts beyond compliance. See GRI 305, GRI 306andSASB Standards
General Issue Categories: GHG Emissions; Air Quality; Water & Wastewater
Management; Waste & Hazardous Materials Managementfor more guidance
on the disclosures.
Environmental Compliance

What policies,
commitments,
goals and targets,
responsibilities,
resources, grievance
mechanisms, and/or
projects, programs,
and initiatives do you
have to manage the
material topic?

What are the Risk/s Identified?
Management
Approach

Disclosures on resource management such as energy consumption, water
consumption, and materials use show how efficiently an organization uses
scarce natural resources, which has implications on reduction of environmental
impacts from extraction and processing of these resources. The efficiency of
managing resources relates to profitability of the organization. See GRI 301,
GRI 302, GRI 303and SASB Standards General Issue Categories: Energy
Management; Water and Wastewater Management; Material Sourcing and
Efficiencyfor more guidance on the disclosures.
Ecosystems and Biodiversity

Identify the opportunity/ies related to
material topic of the organization

Environmental performance

Customer Management
Customer Satisfaction
Disclosure

impacts to the environment, including biodiversity. The company’s ability to
access materials needed for its operations is critical to company’s long-term
success.

Environmental disclosures relate to how the company manages the natural
resources it needs for its business, as well as how it minimizes its negative

1

The Road Ahead. The KPMG Survey of Corporate Responsibility Reporting 2017. https://assets.kpmg.com/content/dam/kpmg/xx/
pdf/2017/10/kpmg-survey-of-corporate-responsibility-reporting-2017.pdf
Based on disclosures made by publicly-listed companies on their Integrated Annual Corporate Governance Report (I-ACGR), 58
companies out of 270 have published a Sustainability Report
3
Brundtland, G. “Our Common Future”, Report of the World Commission on Environment and Development (1987).
4
Global Reporting Initiative, “About Sustainability Reporting”, https://www.globalreporting.org/information/sustainability-reporting/
Pages/default.aspx accessed on 05 December 2018
5
The TCFD Recommendations is focused on climate-related issues.
6
The Sustainability Accounting Standards Board Conceptual Framework (2017)
7
Adopted by the Financial Stability Board (FSB) Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosure (TCFD, 2017).
8
Walsh, Cassandra & Sulkowski, Adam. (2009). A Greener Company Makes for Happier Employees More so than Does a More Valuable
One: A Regression Analysis of Employee Satisfaction, Perceived Environmental Performance and Firm Financial Value. Interdisciplinary
Environmental Review. 11. 10.2139/ssrn.1521745.
9
CFA Institute, “Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Survey” (2018). https://www.cfainstitute.org/-/media/documents/survey/
esg-survey-report-2017.ashx
10
Adopted from Definitions found in the GRI Standards
11
See GRI Standards 101: Foundation 2016
12
This material references GRI Disclosure 103-1 “Explanation of the Material Topic and its Boundary” from GRI 103: Management
Approach 2016 (GRI, 2016).
13
This material references GRI Disclosure 103-2 “The management approach and its components” from GRI 103: Management
Approach 2016 (GRI, 2016).
14
See GRI 102-46 (2016) for more guidance.
15
Adopted from the Recommendations of the Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures. The TCFD Recommendations
apply to non-financial companies and financial-sector organizations, including banks, insurance companies, asset managers and asset
owners.
16
For this disclosure, impact refers to the impact of climate-related issues on the company.
17
International Union for Conservation of Nature
18
Employees are individuals who are in an employment relationship with the organization, according to national law or its application
(GRI Standards 2016 Glossary)
19
Attrition are = (no. of new hires – no. of turnover)/(average of total no. of employees of previous year and total no. of employees of
current year)
20
This publication may be accessed at https://www.globalreporting.org/resourcelibrary/GRI_UNGC_Reporting-on-SDGs_Practical_
Guide.pdf
(MS-FEB. 21, 2019)
2